Superyacht sinking: The 6 missing tourists rescuers are looking for
Search efforts resumed Tuesday for six people who went missing off the coast of Sicily when the luxury superyacht they were travelling in sank in the early hours of the morning Monday.
Divers in wetsuits and oxygen tanks returned to the site off Porticello, near Palermo, to tag-team in 12-minute underwater search shifts where the luxury sailboat, which was carrying 22 people, went down. Fire rescue crews reported that divers only made it to the bridge during a first search, and were unable to access the below-deck cabins because they were blocked by furniture that had shifted during the violent storm that toppled the vessel.
Fifteen people aboard the boat, named the Bayesian, were rescued, including a mother who reported swimming to safety while holding her one-year-old baby above the waves.
Ten crew members and 12 tourists were onboard when the boat sank.
One body has been recovered from the scene, The Associated Press reports, and the Italian coast guard confirmed to NBC News that it was the ship’s chef who died. Global Affairs Canada told Global News that it is aware of reports that a Canadian citizen had died, but did not confirm the news and said that due to privacy considerations no further information would be disclosed.
Global News also reached out to the Embassy of Canada in Rome and the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa for more information about the incident and the missing Canadian, but has not received confirmation as of press time.
However, the six missing passengers have been revealed.
Mike Lynch, 59, is one of the U.K.’s best-known tech entrepreneurs and was sailing on the Bayesian with his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. Reuters reports that Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, owns the Bayesian and was one of the 15
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