Divers searching the wreck of a £30million luxury superyacht have found the bodies of two missing passengers, Italian media report.
Search teams are believed to have made the tragic discovery today while scouring the Bayesian ship, which sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning after being hit by a ‘black swan’ waterspout.
The remains of the pair, whose names and gender are not yet known, were found in the hull of the boat, behind two mattresses, La Repubblica reports.
Separately, a source told Reuters news agency that one of the bodies belonged to a “heavy-set man”. MailOnline has not been able to independently verify the reports.
Six passengers, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, have been missing since then. Divers are desperately trying to gain access to the boat, hoping that there are still survivors in air pockets inside the vessel.
Morgan Stanley director Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, and American citizens Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, who designs jewelry, have also been missing since the disaster.
The challenging operation was complicated by problems such as access to the cabins being blocked by debris and thick silt, preventing divers from seeing inside.
The discovery of the bodies dashes hopes that the remaining four missing passengers will be found alive as the rescue mission enters its third day.
It goes like this:
Rescue crews and divers are operating on the water above the sunken superyacht today
A fire brigade helicopter flies in the air above Porticello today as the search continues
British tech magnate Mike Lynch is one of six people missing after his superyacht Bayesian sank. Pictured: Mr Lynch with his wife Angela Bacares, who survived the disaster
Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer (pictured) and his wife are also missing.
Mr Lynch’s lawyer 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
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
The huge Bayesian storm (pictured) turned into a severe thunderstorm on Monday morning
The yacht was carrying 10 crew and 12 passengers when it was hit by tornado-force winds during a severe thunderstorm at 5 a.m. on Monday, August 19.
The impact was so great that the boat disappeared into the waves and disappeared completely within ‘just 60 seconds’, leaving the occupants scrambling to save themselves.
Fifteen people managed to get to safety, including a British mother who heroically kept her baby daughter afloat in the pitch-black water. Seven people are still missing.
The body of a crew member, Canadian-Antiguan chef Recaldo Thomas, who worked on board as a cook, was found hours later as a rescue operation got underway.
But in the days that followed, there was no sign of the six other missing and hopes of finding survivors faded. Then came the grim news that more bodies had been found this afternoon.
The news came after a marked increase in activity in the harbour over the past two hours, with more boats than usual sailing to and from the site.
An ambulance siren could be heard driving through the streets of Porticello, believed to have joined the large group of police, coastguard and fire brigade vehicles surrounding the small harbour.
The search was difficult because floating debris blocked the ship’s narrow passages. The ship is almost completely intact and lies on its side on the seabed, 50 meters below the surface.
The wreck lies so deep that divers can only stay on the seabed for 10 minutes before they must return to the surface for their own safety.
The superyacht (pictured) was moored off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when it was hit by a tornado over the sea, also known as a waterspout
Today a new team of Italian firefighters arrived to help with the search. They have special tanks that allow them to stay underwater for longer and are more experienced at that depth.
Divers had entered the ship today by drilling a hole in a 3cm-thick porthole, claiming they had reached the ‘master cabin’ where Mr Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares were staying during the voyage.
According to the Italian daily Giornale Di Sicilia, a remote-controlled robot has been deployed to support the search teams.
The ‘robot’ can operate on the seabed at a height of up to 300 metres and can maintain this for 6 to 7 hours.
The device is equipped with advanced technology that allows it to examine the seabed and capture detailed videos and images that are used by the prosecutor in the investigation.
It was announced today that the captain of the superyacht, New Zealander James Cutfield, was questioned by Italian prosecutors last night for ‘more than two hours’.
The ‘highly respected’ seafarer was questioned by the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of their investigation into what happened. They are also expected to speak to other passengers and crew as part of their investigation.
This is a breaking news story. More to come.
