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A manslaughter investigation has been launched following the death of seven people onboard the Bayesian superyacht which sank off the coast of Sicily.
Italian public prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, from nearby town Termini Imerese, said his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter and negligent shipwreck. No specific suspects have been named.
British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those who died after the yacht sank near Porticello around 5am local time on Monday.
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Speaking at a press conference in Termini Imerese town court, Mr Cartosio said: “The Termini Imerese prosecution has opened a case hypothesising the crime of shipwreck and of manslaughter but we are only at the initial stage of the inquiry so far.”
He added: “I have to emphasise that the development of the inquiry could actually be of any sort imaginable.”
Describing the incident as a “very grave tragedy”, the prosecutor thanked firefighters and divers who showed “incredible courage and skill”.
The yacht had been hit by a downburst, according to case prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano. Downbursts are powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm and spread out quickly once they hit the ground.
Mr Cammarano added it was “probable that offences were committed” surrounding the sinking of the yacht.
He told reporters the sinking could have been the responsibility of the captain, crew, individuals in charge of supervision, the ship-builder, or others.
“We will establish each element’s responsibility – that will be done by the inquiry, so we can’t do that prematurely,” he added.
“For me, it is probable that offences were committed – that it could be a case of manslaughter – but we can only establish that if you give us the time to investigate.
“Media timing is completely different from that of a prosecutor. We need a minimum amount of time to come to a proper scientific conclusion.”
Specialised divers attempting to retrieve the bodies had to deal with “very little visibility due to the weather conditions” and were called in from across the country as part of a search-and-rescue operation which involved “some 70 people” each day, the chief of the Palermo fire service said.
Girolamo Bentivoglio said the bodies of six people were recovered from cabins on the left side of the yacht after it had sunk. Post-mortem examinations have yet to be carried out on the bodies.
The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the superyacht, was earlier recovered at the scene on Monday.
The prosecutors added the six passengers may not have been able to escape from the yacht because they were asleep, and the inquiry into the sinking will look at how it was possible that most of the crew managed to survive.
Asked why they were not woken up or alerted, Mr Cammarano said that is something investigators are trying to work out.
Tributes were paid to those who died, with Hannah’s sister calling her “the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me”. She had been due to start studying English at Oxford University in September.
Hannah died alongside her father when his boat capsized, with the wreckage now sitting at a depth of 50m below the surface of the sea.
Maritime director of western Sicily, Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda of the coastguard, could not confirm how long it would take to retrieve the shipwreck of the sunken yacht, adding recovering the fuel tanks was a “priority for us because it has environmental knock-on effects”.
Mr 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 the press conference there was no tornado alert.
Also killed in the incident were Morgan Stanley International chair Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Tributes from across all sectors have been paid to Mr Lynch, who founded the software giant Autonomy in 1996 and sat on the board of a number of prestigious institutions.
His close friend and colleague Andrew Kanter said: “Mike was the most brilliant mind and caring person I have ever known. Over nearly a quarter century I had the privilege of working beside someone unrivalled in their understanding of technology and business.
“There is simply no other UK technology entrepreneur of our generation who has had such an impact on so many people.”
Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 people including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares were rescued after escaping on a lifeboat.
The CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the firm that built the Bayesian, said that the yacht was “unsinkable” and that the vessels are “the safest in the most absolute sense”.
The trip had been a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a decade-long fraud case in the US, and he had invited close friends, colleagues and his legal team onboard to thank them for their support.
