ROME — British tech magnate Mike Lynch and several other people were among those missing after their luxury superyacht sank during a freak storm off Sicily early Monday, Italy’s civil protection and authorities said. Lynch’s wife and 14 other people survived.
Lynch, who was acquitted in June in a big U.S. fraud trial, was among the six people who remain unaccounted for after their chartered sailboat sank off Porticello, when a tornado over the water known as a waterspout struck the area overnight, said Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency.
One body has been recovered, and police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was resting at a depth of 50 meters (163 feet) off Porticello, near Palermo, where it had been anchored.
It had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, the Italian coast guard said. A sudden fierce storm had battered the area overnight, and struck the place precisely where the 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian had been moored.
“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Cocina, noting that another superyacht nearby wasn’t as badly damaged and was able to rescue some of the 15 survivors, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares.
The Bayesian was known for its single 75-meter (246-feet) mast, one of the world’s tallest made of aluminum and which was lit up at night, just hours before it sank. Online charter sites list it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $215,000) a week.
One of the survivors, identified as Charlotte Emsley, said she had momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, Italian news agency ANSA reported, quoting the mother. The father, James Emsley, also survived, said Cocina.
Eight of the 15 people rescued and taken ashore at Porticello were hospitalized while the others were taken to a hotel. One body believed to be the cook was found near the wreck, but six others were unaccounted for and believed inside the hull, said Luca Cari, a spokesperson for the Italian fire rescue service.
Rescue crews located the vessel and deep-water police divers were trying to access the hull, Cari said. The operations, which were visible from shore, involved helicopters and rescue boats from the coast guard, fire rescue and civil protection service.
Fisherman Francesco Cefalu’ said he had seen a flare from shore at around 4:30 a.m. and immediately set out to the site but by the time he got there, the Bayesian had already sunk, with only cushions, wood and other items from the superyacht floating in the water.
“But for the rest, we didn’t find anyone,” he said from the port hours later. He said that he immediately alerted the coast guard and stayed on site for three hours, but didn’t find any survivors. “I think they are inside, all the missing people.”
He said he had been up early to check the weather to see if he could go fishing, and surmised that a sudden waterspout had struck the yacht.
“It could be that the mast broke, or the anchor at the prow pulled it, I don’t know,” he said.
Cocina said the crew and passengers hailed from a variety of countries: In addition to Britain, passengers and crew were from Antigua, France, Germany, Ireland, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain, he said.
Lynch, once hailed as Britain’s king of technology, was cleared in June of fraud and conspiracy charges related to Hewlett Packard’s $11 billion takeover of his company, Autonomy Corp.
The not-guilty verdicts followed an 11-week criminal trial in San Francisco that delved into the history of HP’s 2011 acquisition of Autonomy, a business software firm founded by Lynch.
The fraud accusations represented a dramatic turn in the fortunes of an entrepreneur once described as the Bill Gates of Britain — a title he seemed to live up to when he netted an $800 million from the Autonomy sale.
The acquittal vindicated Lynch, who had vehemently denied wrong doing and portrayed HP as a technological train wreck.
“I’m looking forward to returning the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” Lynch said in a statement released after the verdict.
The yacht, built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Navi, can accommodate 12 passengers in four double cabins, a triple and the master suite, plus crew accommodations, according to Charter World and Yacht Charters.
The vessel, which previously was named Salute when it flew under a Dutch flag, featured a sleek, minimalist interior of light wood with Japanese accents designed by the French designer Remi Tessier, according to descriptions and photos on the charter sites.
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AP writer Danica Kirka contributed from London.
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