Divers searching the shipwreck of a £30million luxury superyacht have found the bodies of two missing passengers, Italian media reports.
Search teams are believed to have made the tragic discovery today while scouring through the Bayesian, which sank off the coast of Sicily after being hit by a ‘black swan’ waterspout on Monday morning.
The remains of the pair, whose names or sex have not yet been revealed, were found in the hull of the boat behind two mattresses, reports La Repubblica.
Six guests, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah have been missing since then, with specialist divers desperately trying to access the boat amid hope survivors could be alive in air pockets inside the vessel.
Also unaccounted for since disaster struck is Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy and American citizens Chris Morvillo and his jewellery designer wife Neda Morvillo.
The challenging operation has been hampered by issues, including access to cabins being blocked by debris and thick silt preventing divers from being able to see inside windows.
The discovery of the bodies would diminish hopes that the remaining five missing passengers will be found alive as the rescue mission enters its third day.
It comes as:
Rescue personnel and divers operate on the water above the shipwrecked superyacht today
A fire service helicopter flies in the air above Porticello today as the search operation takes place
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is one of six people who are missing after his superyacht the Bayesian sank. Pictured: Mr Lynch with his wife Angela Bacares, who survived the disaster
The yacht had been carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers when it was hit by tornado-speed winds during a severe thunderstorm at 5am on Monday, August 19.
Such was the force of the impact, the boat sank beneath the waves, completely disappearing in ‘just 60 seconds’ and leaving those on board in a race to save themselves.
While 15 people were able to make it to safety, including a British mother who heroically held her baby daughter afloat in the pitch-black waters, seven people were unaccounted for.
The body of one crew member, Canadian-Antiguan chef Recaldo Thomas who was the on-board cook, was discovered hours later as a rescue operation got underway.
But in the days that have followed there has been no sign of six other missing people and hopes that survivors would be found have dwindled.
The search operation has been beset with problems, with floating debris blocking the narrow corridors of the vessel and the depth of the wreck meaning divers can only spend 10 minutes at the bottom before having to return.
The vessel is 164ft below the surface, deeper than is normally safe while scuba diving, and today a new team of specialist Italian firefighters who have experience at that depth arrived.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.