One person is dead and six more reportedly missing after violent storms swept across Italy , sinking a luxury superyacht sailing off the coast of the Sicilian capital of Palermo. And among those accounted for is British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch.
The Bayesian, a 184-foot-long vessel flying under the British flag, had been carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew when it was struck by a waterspout—a rotating column of air that occurs over a body of water, similar to a tornado—around 4 a.m. on Monday morning. Fifteen people have been rescued, including a one-year-old girl and her mother, with eight being transported to local hospitals to be treated for their injuries. Local media reports that the victims are in stable condition.
A body was reportedly seen being pulled from the water by emergency services following the incident. None of the missing or dead have been identified, though the Italian coast guard said that the missing included those of British, American and Canadian nationality. However, a source within the rescue operation did confirm that Lynch was among those unaccounted for.
The final photo believed to have been taken of the Bayesian around 10 p.m. on Sunday night was posted to Facebook by a local restaurant in Palermo. "Unbelievable tragedy tonight," the caption stated. "I'm out of words."
Local fisherman Francesco Cefalu' said he saw a flare from the shore at around 4.30 a.m. and quickly set out to the site by boat. But that the Bayesian was already sunk by the time he got there, with debris including wood and cushions floating in the water. After alerting the coast guard, he stayed on site as part of the rescue operation for three hours but found no survivors. "I think they are inside, all the missing people," he told The Independent .
Storms have hit Italy particularly hard in recent days following weeks of scorching heat. The heavy rainfall has caused floods and landslides with major damage reported in the northern part of the county.
"The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude," an official with the Italian coast guard told Reuters .
Karsten Borner, the captain of a nearby ship, said that he had to turn on the engine of his own vessel to gain control during the storm and avoid a collision with the Bayesian. "We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone," he later recalled, adding that the other boat "went flat on the water, and then down."
He also noted that his crew found some of the survivors on a life raft, including three who were seriously injured, and brought them on board before the coast guard arrived.
Lynch, 59, known as "Britain’s Bill Gates," is known for founding Invoke Capital and Autonomy Corporation. Back in June, he was acquitted by a jury in a high-profile fraud trial in San Francisco stemming from the $11 billion sale of his software company to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. His wife, Angela Bacares, was reportedly among those rescued.
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