International Courant
REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Beneath cloudy skies and on uneven waters, emergency operations proceed right here in Porticello, the place a luxurious crusing vacation become a nightmare.
As a Coast Guard helicopter flies overhead, divers are despatched from the harbor to proceed the seek for the six lacking passengers of the Bayesian, which capsized earlier than daybreak on Monday and now lies about 50 meters (160 toes) underwater on the seabed.
Luca Cari of the Italian fireplace and rescue service stated that due to the depth, divers had been solely allowed to remain underwater for 10 minutes earlier than being allowed to floor, limiting their work.
Divers educated to work in confined areas have been flown in from Rome and Sardinia, with robust winds making situations much more tough.
Vincenzo Pepe/Getty Photos
The divers discovered no our bodies on the bridge – the room the place the captain steered the ship – and have now entered the lounge, from the place they’re making an attempt to realize entry to the remainder of the yacht.
The six lacking passengers are believed to be trapped within the cabins, probably sleeping there when the ship capsized.
Among the many lacking are British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, alongside along with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah; his lawyer Mike Corvillo and his spouse Neda; and Morgan Stanley Worldwide President Jonathan Bloomer and his spouse Judy.
The physique of the yacht’s chief has already been discovered. His identification has but to be confirmed.
Mr Lynch’s spouse, Angela Bacares, was amongst 15 folks rescued. They climbed right into a life raft and set off a flare, which attracted the eye of one other boat captain.
The tragedy started on Sunday night with heavy storms that battered the boats right here.
Within the early hours of Monday, it induced a waterspout – a tornado-like spinning column of cloud and water that engulfed the Bayesian. Witnesses say the 76m (249ft) excessive aluminium mast snapped and rapidly engulfed it.
Current scorching warmth and heavy winds reportedly prompted a climate warning forward of the capsizing. The Mediterranean Sea was 30C – larger than regular – elevating the chance of an excessive climate occasion.
Among the many survivors are a number of British nationals, who’re staying in an area lodge, which journalists weren’t allowed entry to.
Certainly one of them is Charlotte Golunski, who was holding her one-year-old daughter above water to maintain her alive. She says all she might hear had been the screams round her.
The British Ambassador to Italy, Ed Llewellyn, instructed me that he had visited the survivors and heard their grief.
“It underlines what a desperately unhappy and dire scenario they had been in,” he stated.
“My coronary heart, and I’m certain that of the entire nation, goes out to them. We’ll do no matter we virtually can to assist on this very tough and heartbreaking scenario.”
He confirmed that maritime investigators despatched from the UK had arrived in Sicily and had been working with their Italian colleagues on a preliminary evaluation.
Native prosecutors have additionally launched an investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy and whether or not something might have been accomplished to mitigate the scenario, together with closing the ship’s hatches in a single day.
The yacht’s captain, James Catfield from New Zealand, instructed Italian media in regards to the sudden waterspout that turned a luxurious superyacht right into a loss of life entice. “We simply did not see it coming,” he stated.
Tragedy on yacht in Sicily leaves Porticello reeling as divers seek for wreck
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