Italian rescuers have brought ashore the body of the last person missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily this week, according to the coastguard.
A woman’s body was found on Friday. She was yet to be officially identified, the Italian coastguard said, according to The Associated Press news agency.
Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch, whose luxury yacht capsized on Monday, was reportedly the last unaccounted person.
The discovery of the body brings the death toll to seven people, concluding a five-day search operation involving specialist divers, boats from several emergency services and helicopters.
Lynch was among five dead passengers whose bodies were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday from inside the yacht, which was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when the predawn storm hit.
The body of the only crew member who died, chef Recaldo Thomas, was recovered near the wreck on Monday.
Lynch, a celebrated tech entrepreneur and investor, had invited friends and family onto the Bayesian, a 56-metre (184-foot) long superyacht carrying 22 people – 12 passengers and 10 crew – to celebrate his recent acquittal in a massive fraud case in the United States.
The vessel was struck by a waterspout – akin to a mini-tornado – that caused it to sink within minutes, reaching a depth of 50 metres (164 feet) below sea level.
Fifteen people, six passengers and nine crew, were rescued, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.
A judicial investigation has been opened into the sinking, which has baffled naval marine experts who say a boat like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group which owns Perini, said the shipwreck was the result of a string of “indescribable, unreasonable errors” made by the crew, and ruled out any design or construction failings.
The yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, and his eight surviving crew members have been questioned by police, but made no public comment on the disaster. Investigating prosecutors are due to hold a news conference on Saturday.
Pulling the wreck out of the sea, where it is now lying on its right side, apparently intact, may help investigators determine what happened, but the operation is likely to be complex and costly.
The other victims include Christopher Morvillo, one of Lynch’s American lawyers, and his wife, Neda, and Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy.
