British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and Morgan Stanley boss among missing in Sicily yacht disaster; Search underway – World News

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter are among six individuals missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily early Monday morning. The 56-metre (183-foot) vessel, named Bayesian, was carrying 22 people, including British, American and Canadian nationals. Fifteen people have been rescued, including a one-year-old British girl and the search continues into the night.

Additionally, this morning, Sicily’s Civil Protection department informed the BBC that Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International Bank and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance, are currently missing as well.

Local media reports indicate that the yacht capsized around 05:00 local time after being struck by a severe storm that produced waterspouts, or rotating columns of air, over the sea. Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa that the yacht’s anchor was deployed during the storm, which caused the mast to break and led to the vessel losing balance and sinking off Porticello, near Palermo.

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Mike Lynch, known for co-founding the software company Autonomy, later acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion and his daughter Hannah Lynch are among the missing. The yacht’s chef is also unaccounted for. Divers have located wreckage 50 metres below the surface and are continuing their search.

Salvatore Cocina, Director General of Sicily’s Civil Protection Agency, confirmed to the BBC that Lynch, his daughter, and the yacht’s chef are among the missing. The search efforts, involving caving and rescue diving teams, will continue throughout the night.

A man’s body was found outside the wreckage, but his nationality has not yet been confirmed. Corporate records show that the yacht’s ownership is tied to Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who has been rescued.

Survivors, including some who were treated at Palermo’s Di Cristina Hospital, are reportedly exhausted and distressed as they grapple with the uncertainty of finding their missing friends. Dr. Domenico Cipolla noted that the survivors are deeply upset and have little hope of finding their companions alive, according to the media reports.

The yacht trip, organized by Lynch for his work colleagues, ended in disaster after a nearby Dutch-flagged vessel rescued the survivors from the sea. Captain Karsten Borner described how the crew noticed the yacht’s disappearance after the storm and found a drifting life raft with 15 survivors, three of whom were heavily injured.