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The Guardian
Sicily yacht sinking: trapped passengers ‘may have died on Bayesian because they were asleep’ – as it happened
By Christy Cooney,
8 hours ago
Rescuers off the coast of Porticello, Sicily after the sinking of Bayesian yacht Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
3.54pm BST
Closing summary
We’re closing our live coverage of the sinking of the Bayesian for today. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick round-up of all the latest developments.
Officials confirmed at a press conference that seven people died in the incident, while 15 people survived
Among those killed were British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah
Prosecutors said they had opened an initial investigation into manslaughter and negligent shipwreck
Ambrogio Cartosio, public prosecutor in the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese, said he believed it was “probable that offences were committed”
The coastguard’s Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda said the weather on the night of the sinking was “abnormal” but that there “wasn’t anything to suggest there could be an extreme situation arising”
The yacht rolled onto its right side as it sank, and six of the seven bodies recovered were found in cabins on its left, officials said
Prosecutors also said the incident happened “really, really suddenly” and that it was possible the ship was hit by a downburst, a powerful gush of wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out quickly from its area of impact
3.36pm BST
At present, it is only the Italian authorities working on the investigation, but Mr Cartosio told reporters earlier that it may also involve agencies from other countries.
“I cannot tell you with any certainty that the inquiry will be exclusively Italian,” he said.
“There will be developments, I’m sure, on that score.”
3.17pm BST
Asked whether the surviving members of the ship’s crew would be required to remain in Sicily while the investigation is carried out, Mr Cartosio said the law did not require them to do so.
“But we require them to be available at earliest convenience of the prosecution,” he said.
“Of course it will be necessary to ask some other questions.”
2.50pm BST
The Bayesian visited the city of Cefalù on northern coast of Sicily on Sunday, Mr Cammarano also said.
“From the statements we have got, the ship stopped the day before the wreck at Cefalù,” he said.
“Some of the passengers left and then after that went on board again.”
2.36pm BST
No information has yet been gathered from the bodies recovered from the wreck, Mr Cammarano told the briefing.
Asked whether post-mortem examinations have yet been conducted, he said: “There are a whole number of preliminary stages to go through before the autopsies.”
2.22pm BST
Obstacles that blocked the way to the wreck of the Bayesian made the recovery operation “particularly difficult”, a senior diver has said.
Guiseppe Petrone, chief of the fire brigades’ divers’ section, said the wreck presented an “unusual kind of scenario” and that divers had been unable to spend a long time on each dive.
“There was all the obstacles to getting in the vessel and of course all the safety measures had to be properly observed. That is to say, not risking [the divers’] lives,” he said.
“So it was particularly difficult and it was very slow, very slow work, especially since it required lengthy periods to remove the obstacles to the cabins.”
2.07pm BST
Prosecutor says it is ‘probable’ offences were committed
Back now to today’s press conference in Sicily.
Mr Cartosio, who you may remember is the chief public prosecutor, said he thought it was “probable that offences were committed” surrounding the sinking of the yacht.
According to a live translation provided by the BBC, he told reporters that the sinking could have been the responsibility of the captain, crew, individuals in charge of supervision, the shipbuilder, or others. But he did point out it may take some time for the investigation to come to a conclusion
He added: “We will establish each element’s responsibility - that will be done by the inquiry, so we can’t do that prematurely.
“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.”
The Bayesian is believed to have capsized after being hit by a downburst amid a storm, officials have said.
Downbursts are meteorological phenomena in which a powerful winds descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out quickly from its area of impact.
Mr Cammarano told the press conference that “from the information we have, it is a downburst we are talking about”.
1.04pm BST
It is not yet possible to say for certain when the first distress signal was sent from the boat, Mr Macauda said.
“It is normal when there is imminent danger to send distress signals,” he said. That is what alerted the port authorities to come to the scene.
“It may be that there was an error in manipulation given the speed of events and it meant that an emergency distress signal was not launched properly or at the right time.
“We can’t reconstruct all these details, I’m afraid at the moment. We can’t say exactly at what time the first distress signal was launched.”
12.52pm BST
The recovery operations to the wreck of the Bayesian involved 123 dives totalling over 70 hours of immersion, the chief of Palermo’s fire brigade told the press conference.
Bentivoglio Fiandra said the divers were working in very poor visibility and a “very restricted environment” around the wreckage.
He also praised the “incredible professionalism” of those involved in the operations.
Updated at 3.07pm BST
12.35pm BST
The 15 survivors of the sinking were saved by a nearby yacht, Mr Cartosio told the press conference.
He said the coastguard received an alert at around 4.32am local time and dispatched a boat, but that the yacht had sunk by the time they arrived.
A number of people had been able to board a lifeboat and were rescued by a Dutch yacht that had been around 150m away, he said.
Updated at 4.16pm BST
12.24pm BST
More now from the press conference, at which officials were asked about whether there was a black box or other safety equipment on board the ship.
“We haven’t got exact information about the black box," Mr Cammarano said.
“It was extremely difficult to get inside some of the cabins and the yacht itself.
“The first phase of this inquiry will certainly concentrate on confirming the presence of such things.
“We can’t reveal anything at this stage but the facts will be confirmed by the later search amongst the wreckage.”
12.19pm BST
Who died in the sinking?
Seven people are now confirmed to have died when the Bayesian sank.
The highest-profile victim was British entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who founded a number of technology companies.
Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who had just won a place to study English Literature at the University of Oxford, also died.
The chair of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Judy, were both killed, as were a lawyer for Clifford Chance, Chris Morvillo, his wife, Neda, and the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas.
Updated at 12.20pm BST
12.04pm BST
Nothing to suggest 'extreme situation' would arise, says coastguard
The weather in the hours before the sinking was “abnormal” but there was nothing to suggest such an “extreme situation” would arise, Mr Macauda said.
“As you can see from the internet, there were forecasts [for] winds of a strength of five from the north-west and the west and a storm alert,” he said.
“But there wasn’t an alert of a tornado.
“Given that the conditions were such, there wasn’t anything to suggest there could be an extreme situation arising.
“There are vessels that can monitor these events and one would’ve thought the captain would’ve taken precautions.”
Updated at 12.20pm BST
11.51am BST
Asked how the crew had managed to survived when none of the passengers did, Mr Cammarano said the sinking happened “really, really suddenly”.
“We have tried to find out maximum information possible from the crew members or the survivors,” he said.
“All I would say is that the incident happened really, really suddenly.
“The inquiry will begin with the facts of the shipwreck. That is all I can say at the moment.”
11.34am BST
It is not yet clear how long it will take for the wreckage of the yacht to be recovered from the ocean floor, the maritime director for western Sicily said at the press conference.
Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda said the water in the area where the vessel sank is around 50m deep and that it would be the responsibility of its owners to retrieve it.
“Everything depends on the availability of the owners and the timeframe of the retrieval of the wreck,” he said.
“Of course all that has to be submitted to the port authorities and in parallel of course there will be the inquiry results and it’s only really then that we will be able to authorise the operation.
“But the preliminary phase which we requested was to retrieve the wreck and after that we can proceed with the rest.”
He added that the recovery of the boat’s fuel tanks would be a priority because of their possible environmental impact.
Updated at 11.38am BST
11.16am BST
Six of the bodies recovered from the wreck were found in cabins on the left side of yacht, according to the chief of the Palermo fire service.
Officials said the back of the vessel sank before the whole thing rolled onto its right side.
“The yacht obviously pinned to the right and obviously the [people] tried to go on the other side and then took refuge in their cabins,” said Girolamo Bentivoglio, according to a translation provided by the BBC.
“We found four or five bodies in the cabin on the left and there was another one in the third cabin on the left too, and obviously they were in the higher part of the wreck.”
Updated at 11.27am BST
10.53am BST
Passengers may have died because they were asleep, prosecutor says
Passengers may not have been able to escape from the yacht because they were asleep, Raffaele Cammarano, the prosecutor of the case has said.
He suggested the victims “were asleep whereas the others weren’t”.
He was asked if there was anyone at the time available to alert them.
Through a translation of the conference Mr Cammarano said: “That is precisely what we are trying to ascertain from the statements made during the interrogation of the survivors - an essential point in the inquiry obviously.”
Updated at 3.01pm BST
10.53am BST
Italian prosecutors open manslaughter investigation
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the ongoing investigation into the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht off the coast of Sicily.
We know now an manslaughter investigation has been opened into the deaths of seven people, including the British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah.
A press conference is taking place in Sicily, led by public prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio.
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