Fifth physique recovered from wreck of sunken £30m superyacht
A fifth body has this morning been recovered by divers from the wreck of the £30 million superyacht that sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily.
A fire service boat with flashing blue lights returned with a blue body bag to Porticello at just after 8.45am local time.
Search teams made the tragic discoveries of four bodies yesterday while scouring through the ruins of the luxury sailboat.
The fifth body was discovered late last night, but dive teams were unable to bring it to shore before night fell.
It brings the total number of confirmed deaths to six after the body of Recaldo Thomas was discovered of the day of the sinking. One person remains missing.
Tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those missing after the Bayesian sank after being hit by a ‘black swan’ waterspout on Monday at 5am.
Identities of the recovered bodies have not been confirmed by authorities, despite local and international media reporting some had been identified.
Body bags were seen being taken to the port of Porticello on Wednesday afternoon, with the process of bringing the fifth body to shore being described by Mr Cocina as ‘ongoing’.
It comes as:
Rescue personnel work at the scene today where luxury yacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo
Divers found five bodies in the wreck yesterday (Pictured: A rescue boat with rescue personnel on board resume search operations this morning)
As the body bags were taken back to the port, dozens of emergency services staff were waiting, and one bag was seen being put in the back of an ambulance.
Among those also named as missing were; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Mr Thomas, who was working as a chef on the Bayesian superyacht, was recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday.
Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping onto a lifeboat.
The captain of a yacht, the Sir Robert BP, who helped to rescue them, described how those aboard his vessel spotted the distress flare set off from a life raft.
Karsten Borner said his crew noticed the Bayesian had disappeared before a passenger spotted the flare.
He told Sky News: ‘We couldn’t see them any more and they disappeared from the radar, we were busy keeping our own ship sailing.
‘We couldn’t see the ship again so we were aware something was very wrong.’
The Bayesian (pictured in an undated handout photo) overturned during a severe thunderstorm on Monday morning
TODAY: Salvatore Cocina, the head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, said searches are resuming this morning, and there will be an investigation in due course
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch with his wife Angela Bacares, who survived the disaster
Mr Lynch’s attorney Christopher Morvillo (pictured) and his wife Neda are also missing after the yacht sank
Neda and Christopher Movillo (pictured together) had joined Mr Lynch on the trip to the Mediterranean
Rescue workers look at the plans of the the Bayesian as they organise a search operation for six people who are still missing after the superyacht sank
Chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer (pictured), and his wife are also missing
Judy Bloomer, who is missing, is a supporter and former board member of the Eve Appeal, a charity that raises awareness and funds research into gynaecological cancer
He said it was only when the tender set out that they found the life raft.
Mr Borner continued: ‘It turned out to be the life raft, a 12-person life raft with 15 people inside including one baby.
‘They stepped over to our tender and we brought them back to our ship. There we took good care of them, gave them dry clothes, towels, blankets, tea and coffee and so on and took care of them.’
Inspections of the yacht’s internal hull took place on Wednesday morning.
A team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) also arrived in Porticello to look at the site of the sinking.
The MAIB is looking into what happened because the yacht Bayesian was flying a British flag, it is understood.
The Italian Coastguard said the MAIB is not involved in the search for the missing people, and that it has not been requested to assist.
The ship’s captain, James Cutfield, was reportedly quizzed by authorities for two hours as they began questioning all crew members.
Speaking to New Zealand media, Mr Cutfield’s brother Mark said his sibling was a ‘very good sailor’ with eight years of experience working abroad on luxury yachts.
A helicopter was drafted in to help the search effort, as divers from the local fire service were seen entering the water with torches attached to their headgear.
The ship’s captain, James Cutfield, 51, was reportedly quizzed by authorities for two hours as they began questioning all crew members
The Bayesian sank after being hit by a ‘black swan’ waterspout on Monday at 5am (Pictured: A large waterspout on sea in Campina, Italy, on August 19)
The superyacht (pictured) was docked off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when it was hit by an over-sea tornado, known as a waterspout
A police boat and divers were also seen entering the water on Wednesday afternoon.
Fire crews from the Vigili del Fuoco said they have been accessing the vessel through natural entrances, without making openings.
Remotely controlled underwater vehicles are being used, with naval units and cave divers also taking part in the search, the Italian Coastguard has said.
Bayesian was moored around half a mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank at about 5am local time on Monday as the area was hit by a storm.
Vincenzo Zagarola, of the Italian Coastguard, previously said the missing tourists were feared dead.
The wreckage of the Bayesian is resting on the seabed off the coast at a depth of 50 metres (164ft).
Fire crews described the operation as ‘complex’, with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts.
Survivors have been recuperating at a hotel complex in Porticello, where authorities were gathering witness statements.
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a fraud case in the US.
The businessman, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.
The Financial Times reported that Mr Bloomer appeared at trial as a defence witness for Mr Lynch, while media reports suggest the pair are close friends.
In a separate incident, Mr Lynch’s co-defendant in his US fraud trial, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.
