A diver who led the search for four Brits and two Americans who went missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily has detailed the difficult and emotional ordeal.
Seven people died after luxury vessel Bayesian sank in severe weather near Porticello, northern Sicily, in the early hours of August 19.
British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those recovered.
“That young girl should have been writing important pages of her life but sadly the story ended up very differently,” said Giuseppe Petrone, chief of the Italian Firefighters Dive Team, told MailOnline.
Hannah was a former pupil of west London private school Latymer Upper School, who had been due to study English Literature at the University of Oxford.
Those who died in the tragedy also included Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Mr Petrone told MailOnline 27 divers had been involved in the “difficult operation”.
Divers were only about to spend around 14 minutes maximum on the yacht, which was lying on the seabed at a depth of around 49 metres, with debris obstructing access points.
“The yacht was on its right hand side. All of the cabins had been invaded with floating debris, mattresses, sheets, wardrobes,” he told MailOnline.
“It was due to this large amount of floating debris that the operation progressed with difficulty.
“The cabins were dark and there was barely any visibility, so as a result the environment was hostile and the situation was getting more difficult.”
He said Hannah had been the most difficult person to find.
“She [Hannah] was the furthest away, we are talking about a situation where to advance just a metre took four or five dives.
“It was such a relief to have found her after almost five days. The tension had been unbearable until then.”
A manslaughter investigation has been opened into the deaths of those who died in the tragedy, an Italian prosecutor said.
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a fraud case in the US.
The businessman, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.
A spokesperson for the Lynch family said: “The Lynch family is devastated, in shock and is being comforted and supported by family and friends.
“Their thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy.
“They would like to sincerely thank the Italian coastguard, emergency services and all those who helped in the rescue.
“Their one request now is that their privacy be respected at this time of unspeakable grief.”
Hannah’s sister called her “the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me”.
Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15, including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat.
The prosecutor in charge of the manslaughter probe, Raffaele Cammarano, has suggested that passengers may not have been able to escape from the yacht because they were asleep.
Asked why they were not woken up or alerted, he said that is something investigators are trying to work out.
He said several of the bodies onboard the sunken yacht were found in a single cabin which was not theirs.
Maritime director of western Sicily Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda said the weather at the time of the yacht’s sinking was abnormal and there was nothing to suggest such an extreme situation would arise.
He told a press conference that there was no tornado alert in place at the time.
Mr Cammarano added that the yacht had been hit by a downburst, which are powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm and spread out quickly once they hit the ground.
Officials said they would be looking at how it could so badly affect the Bayesian, and not other nearby vessels.
Mr Macauda could not confirm how long it would take to retrieve the shipwreck of the sunken yacht and made clear that the owners will bear the full cost of retrieval, although he could not estimate the figure.
The bodies of all six missing passengers were taken to shore in the small fishing village of Porticello, about 11 miles from the Sicilian capital Palermo.
