Italy and Sicily: Investigation into possible manslaughter opened in case of capsizing of superyacht

Sicilian prosecutors said on Saturday they were investigating a case of possible manslaughter following the sinking of a superyacht that killed seven people. It emerged that the trapped passengers were looking for air holes after the yacht sank.

British technology magnate Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, four friends and the yacht's chef were killed when the British-flagged Bayesian sank in a storm before dawn on Monday.

“The Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor's Office has filed a file with the State against unknown persons, in which the crimes of negligent shipwreck and multiple negligent homicide are suspected,” prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio told reporters on the Italian island.

However, he said he was only announcing the investigation because of the great international interest in the case. He stressed: “We are only in the early stages of the investigation. At this stage, we are ruling out absolutely nothing, precisely because the investigation could develop in any direction.”

Lynch, 59, had invited friends and family onto the boat to celebrate his recent acquittal in a massive U.S. fraud trial.

But the 56-metre (185-foot) yacht was hit by what resembled a mini-tornado before dawn on Monday while anchored off Porticello, near Palermo.

15 people were rescued and shortly afterwards the body of the yacht's chef was found. Six passengers were reported missing.

In a large-scale search operation involving specialized divers, the bodies of four of Lynch's friends were identified on Wednesday.

Lynch's body was found on Thursday and that of his daughter, who had been preparing to study at Oxford University, on Friday.

Fight for air

The bodies were found in two cabins on the surface side of the ship, where officials believed the trapped passengers had gone to check for air pockets.

The ship sank with its stern – that is, its back – and came to rest on its right side on the seabed about 50 meters deep, said Girolamo Bentivoglio Fiandra of the fire department.

He told reporters that passengers inside had “sought refuge in the cabins on the left side, where somehow the last air bubbles had formed.”

“We found the first five bodies in the first cabin on the left and the last body in the third cabin on the left,” he said.

The Bayesian's distress flare went off at 4:38 a.m. (02:38 GMT) on Monday morning and was immediately dispatched by the coast guard – but by the time they arrived, the ship had already sunk.

SUDDENLY, UNEXPECTEDLY

Contrary to earlier reports, Raffaele Macauda of the Sicilian coast guard said there was no storm warning that night.

“It was a sudden and unexpected event,” added Raffaele Cammarano, another prosecutor.

Officials said the crew could leave Sicily while the investigation continues.
Information about whether the yacht's doors were open – which could explain why it sank so quickly – could not be confirmed until the wreckage is recovered, officials said.

This could take weeks.

Lynch, once known as Britain's “Bill Gates,” founded the software company Autonomy in the 1990s. The company's $11 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 brought him fraud charges in the United States.

A jury in San Francisco acquitted the 59-year-old and a co-defendant of all charges in June.

After Hannah's body was brought ashore on Friday, her family issued a statement describing their “unspeakable grief.”
“The Lynch family is devastated and in shock and is receiving comfort and support from family and friends,” it said.

US lawyer Chris Morvillo, a partner at the prestigious law firm Clifford Chance who was involved in the US trial, also died along with his wife Neda. The bodies of Jonathan Bloomer, CEO of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy were also found.

In various media reports, the chef was named as the Canadian-Antiguan Recaldo Thomas.