The bodies of five people have been found in U.K. tech mogul Mike Lynch’s sunken superyacht, days after it was struck by a sudden storm and quickly slipped below waters off the Sicilian coast, according to local authorities.
So far, the remains of three people have been hauled ashore while another two bodies were in the process of being recovered on Wednesday, Salvatore Cocina, head of the Sicily civil protection agency, said. He added that the search is ongoing for the lone passenger still missing.
While none of the remains have officially been identified, the Telegraph reported that the bodies of Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, were among those found. They were pulled from the hull of the yacht, which is resting on the seafloor, 164 feet below the water’s surface.
Diving teams and search crews have been scouring the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea since Monday, when Lynch’s 184-foot yacht, nicknamed the Bayesian, was struck by a waterspout — a tornado that forms over water — around 4 a.m. It was anchored near the port of Porticello with 22 people — 10 crew and 12 passengers — onboard at the time.
Those listed as missing in the aftermath included Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy Bloomer, New York City lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo as well as Lynch and his daughter.
One person, the ship’s Antigua-born chef, Recaldo Thomas, was found dead shortly after the sinking while another 15 escaped on a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby sailboat.
Lynch, who has an estimated net worth of $1 billion, struck it big when he sold his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. The deal was almost immediately called into question amid allegations that he cooked his books and duped HP into buying the company for significantly more than it was worth.
After an 11-week trial in San Francisco, 59-year-old Lynch was cleared of all wrongdoing. He faced 15 charges, one count of conspiracy and 14 counts of wire fraud. Corvillo served as his attorney for the legal battle while Bloomer once worked as the former head of the Autonomy audit committee. He also testified on Lynch’s behalf.
With News Wire Services
