The daughter of British entrepreneur Mike Lynch is the final person left to be found after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, with emergency workers saying that she remains their “priority”.
Hannah Lynch, 18, had been onboard her tech tycoon father’s luxury boat alongside 20 others, when the Bayesian capsized during stormy weather.
The bodies of Mr Lynch, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, have all been recovered from the wreckage and identified.
The yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was found and identified on Monday, just a few hours after the vessel capsized. The Italian coastguard have now confirmed that the search has resumed to find the teenager, who remains unaccounted for.
Her mother, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 survivors who were rescued from a lifeboat after the boat dramatically sank in minutes at around 5am on Monday morning.
Prior to the tragedy, Mr Lynch had been hosting “colleagues and collaborators” in celebration after winning an $11bn fraud case in the US.
Those also killed include Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
Hannah had been due to study English at University of Oxford having recently finished her A-levels, The Times reported. A gifted pupil, she won a prize for English while she was in Year 10 at Latymer Upper School.
The prestigious Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, where she had been a pupil, has said they are all “incredibly shocked” after a yacht sank with her onboard.
Since her father’s death has been confirmed, tributes have flooded in from across the science and technology sector, with David Tabizel, Mr Lynch’s Autonomy co-founder, saying: “The world has lost a genius. His family have lost a giant of a man.”
Mr Lynch was a member of the Create The Change fundraising board, set up by Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the building of the Francis Crick Institute.
Chairman Lord John Browne, who described him as “a human being of great ability”, said: “MikeLynch should be remembered as the person who catalysed a breed of deep tech entrepreneurs in the UK.
“His ideas and his personal vision were a powerful contribution to science and technology in both Britain and globally.”
The British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been confirmed dead by search and rescue authorities after a yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm on Monday, according to two news agencies.
Lynch, 59, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was among six people missing after the British-flagged 56-metre sailing boat Bayesian capsized at about 5am local time off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado.
Both Reuters and AFP news agencies reported that Lynch’s body had been recovered from the wreck, citing sources close to the rescue operation.
His wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued, while his 18-year-old daughter remains unaccounted for.
The bodies of four people were recovered from the sunken wreck of the yacht on Wednesday. The body of the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was located shortly after the vessel sank.
Figures from the UK’s business and technology sectors have paid tribute to Mike Lynch, the PA Media news agency reports .
As well as founding the software giant Autonomy, he was on the board of several prominent institutions including the BBC and the British Library, and was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
The academy paid tribute to its “mentor, donor and former council member” on Thursday.
In a statement, it said: “Mike became a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2008 and we have fond memories of the active role he played in the past as a mentor, donor and former council member.
“He was also one of the inaugural members on the enterprise committee. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Francis Crick Institute described Mike Lynch as a “human being of great ability”.
Lynch was a member of the Create The Change fundraising board, set up by Cancer Research UK and which helped fund the building of the Institute, a biomedical research centre.
Lord John Browne said: “Mike Lynch should be remembered as the person who catalysed a breed of deep tech entrepreneurs in the UK.
“His ideas and his personal vision were a powerful contribution to science and technology in both Britain and globally. I send my condolences to those close to him.”
Technology industry group TechUK added to the tributes. A spokesperson said: “Mike Lynch was a hugely significant and pioneering figure in the UK technology sector. Our hearts go out to all of the families and friends who have been impacted by these tragic events.”
Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still unaccounted for, interior ministry official Massimo Mariani told Reuters after being briefed by the emergency services.
The bodies of four other people who vanished when the boat went down were recovered from the yacht on Wednesday.
The Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) superyacht carrying 22 passengers and crew, was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it disappeared beneath the waves in a matter of minutes after the bad weather struck in the early hours of Monday.
The family of Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy have described them as 'incredible people and an inspiration to many' following their deaths in the sinking of a luxury yacht in Sicily.
Relatives said in a statement: “Jonathan and Judy were incredible people and an inspiration to many. Jonathan’s integrity and intelligence touched everyone he knew. He lived life to the full and always sought to be the best version of himself. Judy was a vibrant and compassionate woman who had a genuine interest in people. She was a shining light and brought joy to those around her. They will be greatly missed.”
A decision on whether to raise the sunken yacht from the seabed is “not on the agenda” but “will be,” the Italian Coastguard’s Vincenzo Zagarola told the PA news agency.
Prosecutors in Termini Imerese, who have opened an investigation into the incident, have been examining videos and photographs taken on the night of the storm by some local residents.
The coast guard has visited all private homes and public places with surveillance cameras, seizing the clips.
In the footage, the British sailboat Bayesian is seen sinking into the stormy sea within a few minutes.
Fishers in the Sicilian village of Porticello who witnessed the Bayesian superyacht sink rapidly say that the vessel was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But Italian prosecutors investigating the incident are focusing on whether the captain and crew took all the necessary safety measures to prevent the tragedy.
The only body still missing is that of Lynch’s eighteen-year-old daughter Hannah, who has not yet been located.
The five bodies have been taken to a morgue in Palermo.
Here are the latest images from Porticello, as efforts continue to locate a sixth missing body.
Reuters, citing a source close to the rescue operation, is reporting that the body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch was retrieved today.
Lynch’s teenage daughter Hannah is still missing, Reuters reported.
The head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, told the Guardian this morning that the fifth body inside the yacht has been successfully recovered and transported to Porticello’s pier.
Dive teams from the fire brigade have now resumed the search for the final missing body within the Bayesian vessel this morning.
Italian media, quoting sources from the divers, confirmed the identification of Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, as well as Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy Bloomer among the retrieved victims on Wednesday.
The bodies of Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah are still unaccounted for at this stage. The sixth body has not been located yet.
“We are still working on it,” Giuseppe Petrone, the national director of Italy’s firefighting department divers, told the Guardian. “We should be able to recover the sixth body today,” he added.
A fifth body located by Italian search teams has been recovered from the sunken Bayesian yacht, the PA news agency reported.
The body has been brought to shore.
The UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his teenage daughter Hannah Lynch, the Morgan Stanley International chair, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy Bloomer, and the Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo, have been missing since the vessel went down on Monday morning. By Jamie Bullen
Published: 03:23 EDT, 22 August 2024 | Updated: 11:25 EDT, 22 August 2024
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Hannah Lynch, the teenage daughter of British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, remains lost at sea as Italian authorities named five people whose bodies were recovered from inside the Bayesian superyacht
Mr Lynch, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith and US nationals Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda have all been formally identified by coastguard officials.
The six passengers had been missing since Monday when the Bayesian yacht sank off the coast of Sicily. Four bodies were pulled from the water on Wednesday while a fifth was recovered earlier today.
Follow live coverage below
by Rory Tingle and Darren Boyle
The boss of the firm that built the Bayesian has claimed the crew had 16 minutes to warn passengers as the superyacht 'dragged its anchor' before sinking - as a live tracker showed a nearby boat following a similar course.
The superyacht capsized and sank after being struck by an over-sea tornado known as a waterspout off Sicily at around 3am GMT on Monday. Six bodies have been recovered, with Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, still missing.
A witness said they saw the vessel go down in 60 seconds, pointing to a sudden, catastrophic event that may have been difficult for the crew to foresee or respond to.
But Giovanni Costantino, CEO of Italian Sea Group - which owns the company that built the ship - insisted it took 16 minutes from the moment the boat was caught by the wind and began dragging its anchor before it finally sank, which should have given the crew enough time to warn passengers.
He told the FT: 'The torture lasted 16 minutes. It went down, not in one minute as some scientists have said. It went down in 16 minutes. You can see it from the charts, from the AIS [Automatic Identification System] tracking chart.'
Read more here:
The family of Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy have described them as 'incredible people and an inspiration to many' following their deaths in the sinking of a luxury yacht in Sicily.
Relatives said in a statement:
by Nick Pisa
Crew members 'are to blame' for the sinking of a £30 million superyacht that is thought to have left at least seven people dead, says the firm that built the ship.
In his first public comments since the disaster, Giovanni Costantino, CEO of Italian Sea Group bought the Bayesian's constructors Perini Navi two years ago, said: 'This was human error, the yacht sank because it took on water.
'From where exactly the investigators will tell us. The dynamic of the sinking is seen and read from AIS (Automatic Identification System) data and lasted sixteen minutes.
'We have given this data to the prosecutors at Termini Immerse. From the images it looks as if the yacht had been taking on water for four minutes.
'All it took was another gust of wind to turn her over, that meant more water coming in. She then straightened very briefly before going down.'
Read more here:
Tim Davie, BBC director-general, has paid tribute after the death of technology mogul Mike Lynch, who was a director at the corporation.
He said:
The body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch was retrieved on Thursday from the wreck of his family yacht that sank earlier this week, a senior Italian official said.
Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still unaccounted for, interior ministry official Massimo Mariani told Reuters after being briefed by the emergency services.
The bodies of four other people who vanished when the boat went down were recovered from the yacht on Wednesday.
The Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) superyacht carrying 22 passengers and crew, was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it disappeared beneath the waves in a matter of minutes after the bad weather struck in the early hours of Monday.
These are the latest pictures we can show you as rescue divers resume the search for a missing passenger on board the Bayesian yacht.
Five bodies have been recovered but a sixth, reported to be Hannah Lynch, remains unaccounted for.
by Matt Strudwick
A decision on whether to raise the doomed £30 million Bayesian to the surface is currently 'not on the agenda', the Italian Coastguard has said.
The superyacht is 'virtually intact' on its side 164ft below on the seabed after it sank on Monday morning off the coast of Sicily during a 'black swan' waterspout.
Vincenzo Zagarola, of the Italian Coastguard, said raising the superyacht is not a 'topic on the agenda', but added: 'It will be, but not now.'
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the five bodies that have so far been recovered from the wreck.
His 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still missing with the coastguard working on the theory she is still inside the vessel.
The fire rescue service said it would 'need a crystal ball' to know when they would find 'the next body' as dive teams can take up to 24 hours just to move one meter due to the difficulty of moving around inside the wreckage.
Hannah Lynch will likely be found somewhere inside the sunken Bayesian, according to an oceanography expert.
The 18-year-old daughter of yacht owner Mike Lynch is the only passenger divers are searching for today after five bodies were recovered from the sailboat.
Dr Simon Boxall, a lecturer of oceanography at the University of Southampton, told Sky News:
We've had several tributes for Mike Lynch following confirmation of his death earlier today, so let's recap what his friends and former colleagues have said:
Read more here:
The CEO of the Italian Sea Group, the owners of the Perini shipyard where the Bayesian was built, has told an Italian newspaper 'mistakes were made' on the board the yacht which is 'practically unsinkable' unless it took on water.
Giovanni Costantino said it appeared a series of errors had led to the sinking on Monday.
He told the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera that guests should not have been in their cabins, the boat shouldn't have been anchored and he questioned why the crew didn't know about the incoming storm.
The ship's captain James Cutfield previously said, 'We didn't see it coming,' in his first remarks since the sinking.
Italian rescuers searching for Hannah Lynch, the only passenger on board the sunken Bayesian who remains unaccounted for, would need a 'crystal ball' to know when they will find her.
The Italian Coastguard has confirmed the sixth and final person yet to be recovered is a woman widely reported to be the 18-year-old student.
Five bodies have been recovered far as the search entered its fourth day.
Luca Cari, a spokesperson for the fire rescue service, said:
by Rory Tingle
With the sinking of Mike Lynch's £30million superyacht declared 'unprecedented' by maritime experts, the task of working out what happened will be long and complex.
The Bayesian capsized and sank after being struck by an over-sea tornado known as a waterspout on Monday morning, but with the vessel declared 'unsinkable' questions remain over its inability to withstand the freak event.
This morning five bodies recovered from the wreck of the doomed vessel were identified, including Mr Lynch. Searches continue for one person who is still missing, believed to be his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.
Twenty two people, comprising 12 guests and 10 crew members, were on the luxury boat when disaster struck just before 5am. Fifteen of the 22 people who were on board managed to escape and make it onto a life raft.
Matthew Shank, chairman of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, called the disaster 'unprecedented', arguing that under any other circumstances, a boat of the Bayesian's quality should have been able to withstand the weather.
MailOnline has looked at how the investigation will proceed, and some of the key issues it will consider.
Read more here:
More tributes are pouring in for Mike Lynch.
The chairman of the Francis Crick Institute described him as a 'human being of great ability', following confirmation on Thursday of the technology mogul’s death.
Mr Lynch was a member of the Create The Change fundraising board, set up by Cancer Research UK and which helped fund the building of the institute.
Lord John Browne said:
Dive teams have returned to the wreck site for a fourth day as rescuers attempt to find the last passenger unaccounted for following the Bayesian yacht disaster on Monday.
Here's what we have learned today:
A decision on whether to raise the sunken yacht from the seabed is 'not on the agenda' but 'will be', a spokesman from the Italian Coastguard has said.
Vincenzo Zagarola told the PA news agency:
He also said that the Italian Coastguard’s working theory is still that the missing woman is inside the boat.
by Elena Salvoni
Two young women who had been working as hostesses on the Bayesian superyacht when it sank have broken their silence about their horror ordeal.
Leah Randall, 20, and Katja Chicken, 22, were on board the £30 million vessel when it was suddenly struck by a waterspout tornado just before 5am on Monday.
The crewmembers escaped along with the yacht's captain, New Zealander James Cutfield, and Angela Bacares, the wife of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch who owned the Bayesian.
Leah, who hails from South Africa, and Katja, who is German, have been staying at the Domina Zagarella hotel in Santa Flavia, which has been used as a base by emergency services throughout the search and recovery mission.
The pair are reported to be in a state of shock, and were tearful as they told Italian media: 'We are alive by a miracle'.
Read more here:
The Royal Academy of Engineering has described Mike Lynch as its 'mentor, donor and former council member' in a tribute following his death in the yacht disaster.
In a statement, the academy said:
Italian Coastguard dive teams have been pictured returning to Porticello harbour from the Bayesian wreck on the fourth day of the search with just Hannah Lynch now unaccounted for.
The body of a fifth missing person was recovered earlier this morning, following the recovery of four others on Wednesday.
The chairman of children’s charity the NSPCC has described Jonathan Bloomer, the former honorary treasurer of the organisation, as 'a very kind individual', following his death in the luxury yacht disaster.
Speaking about the Morgan Stanley International bank chairman and his wife Judy, who died off the coast of Sicily, Neil Berkett said:
by Elizabeth Haigh and Nick Pisa
Italian prosecutors are to speak to the Bayesian superyacht's designers and analyse the vessel's keel as an unearthed clip from 2019 shows what should have happened when the ship was hit by a waterspout.
Yesterday five bodies were discovered as divers continued an urgent search of the £30 million yacht for six missing people after it sank while anchored at around 5am on Monday.
While 15 of the 12 guests and ten crew members managed to escape and make it onto a life raft, owner Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda remained unaccounted for.
As search efforts get underway for the final missing person, whose identity has not been confirmed, prosecutors are set to investigate the ship's keel, which was partially elevated at the time of the storm.
The keel, which extends like a giant fin underneath the boat and acts as a counterweight to the tall mast, was not fully down despite poor weather being forecast hours ago.
Read more here:
Now the Italian Coastguard has named the five people recovered from the Bayesian superyacht, let's just remind ourselves who they are:
The 59-year-old tech tycoon had an estimated net worth of £852million and was the owner of the Bayesian superyacht.
Raised in Ilford, east London by Irish parents, he made his millions after setting up software firm Autonomy in 1996.
It was the father of two who brought the group together to celebrate his recent acquittal on charges in the US on the yacht.
The Cambridge graduate had faced fraud and conspiracy charges after selling Autonomy for £9billion to US giant Hewlett Packard in 2011.
He owns a multi-million pound ivy-covered house in Chelsea, west London. He has a string of accolades including an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006.
Veteran businessman Mr Bloomer is the chairman of Morgan Stanley International bank and insurance firm Hiscox.
The 70-year-old Briton was educated at Imperial College London and has previously served on a number of high profile company boards.
He is said to be close friends with Dr Lynch and appeared at his US trial as a defence witness.
The wife of Jonathan Bloomer, Judy is listed as a former director of property developer Change Real Estate along with her husband.
She is described as a 'brilliant champion for women's health' and has been a trustee and supporter of gynaecological cancer research charity the Eve Appeal for more than 20 years.
Judy, who studied English language and literature at Cambridge, worked as a psychotherapist for nearly 30 years.
American Christopher Morvillo, a partner at the Clifford Chance law firm in New York, represented Dr Lynch in his US trial in San Francisco.
He expressed his elation on LinkedIn after securing Dr Lynch and his colleague Stephen Chamberlain's acquittal on fraud charges in June.
Mr Morvillo wrote: 'A huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.'
He hauntingly signed off the post: 'And they all lived happily ever after.'He worked on the terrorist investigation into the 9/11 attacks.
The 57-year-old, who runs luxury jewellery line under her maiden name, Neda Nassiri, was also on the yacht with her husband Mr Morvillo.
The couple have two daughters, 27 year-old Sabrina, a voice actress, and 23 year-old Sophia.
by Matt Strudwick
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the five bodies recovered from the wreck of the £30 million superyacht that sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily.
Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith, Mr Lynch's lawyer Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda have also been identified.
Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still missing.
Sicily's Chief of Civil Protection Salvo Cocina said yesterday he believed the Oxford bound teen was among the bodies recovered, but this morning the Italian Coastguard confirmed she is yet to be found.
A fire service boat with flashing blue lights returned with a blue body bag to Porticello at just after 8.45am local time.
A source close to the operation told news agency Reuters that 59-year-old Mr Lynch's body was recovered this morning.
One of Mike Lynch's friends has told Sky News he was 'hoping for a miracle' as he reacted to confirmation of his death.
Brent Hoberman paid tribute to Mr Lynch as an 'inspiring figure' in the technology industry who should be remembered for achievements in his career.
We were all hoping for a miracle - we knew it was unlikely but you still hold out hope
It's just so unbelievably tragic for him to go through what he went through over the last 12 years, defending his name and not really living a full life, to now for his death to be confirmed is obviously incredibly sad.
Mr Hoberman added he hopes Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares, who survived the Bayesian sinking, has close friends around her 'giving her courage and strength'.
Hannah Lynch, the teenage daughter of British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, remains lost at sea as Italian authorities named five people whose bodies were recovered from inside the Bayesian superyacht
Mr Lynch, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith and US nationals Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda have all been formally identified by coastguard officials.
The search for Hannah continues today.
Sky News is reporting the Italian Coastguard has confirmed Mike Lynch has died after his body was among five to be identified by authorities.
Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith Bloomer, lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo have also been identified.
Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch remains unaccounted for.
by Matt Strudwick
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 luxury sailboat Bayesian.
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 on the day of the sinking. One person remains missing.
by Robert Hardman for The Daily Mail
And so the last flicker of hope went down with the sun last night. As body bags started to come ashore in quick succession on a sullen Sicilian quayside late yesterday afternoon, the first two of those recovered from the wreck of the 183ft British superyacht, Bayesian, were feared to be the owner, Mike Lynch, and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.
According to Italian reports from the diving team, they had been found in the same section of the hull, now lying on its side in 150 feet of water half a mile from the fishing town of Porticello.
Shortly after that, the remains of two more of the six missing passengers were located, brought to the surface and ferried ashore.
The video player is currenEach time, the emergency services did their best to make things as dignified as possible.
Each bodybag arrived in a procession of patrol boats, before it was lifted by firemen into the screened-off quayside tent of the Department of Civil Protection for registration.
Read more here:
Rescue divers and the Italian Coastguard have been pictured heading out to the site of the Bayesian wreck as searches resume for the sixth and final passenger unaccounted for since the yacht sank on Monday.
Yesterday, four bodies were found on the lower deck of the yacht and brought into the port at Porticello, where a bell rang out each time as a mark of respect.
Rescuers have since brought a fifth body ashore this morning after recovery efforts were called off last night because of fading light.
The fifth body located by Italian search teams has been recovered from the sunken Bayesian yacht and brought to shore.
A fire service boat with flashing blue lights returned with a blue body bag to Porticello at just after 8.45am local time on Thursday.
It comes after four bodies were pulled from the water yesterday afternoon after divers managed to gain access to the cabins.
None of the bodies have been formally identified.
Superyacht owner Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy and US nationals Chris and Neda Morvillo had been unaccounted for since the Bayesian sank on Monday.
Hello and welcome to MailOnline's live coverage as divers searching the sunken Bayesian yacht off the coast of Sicily enter the fourth day.
Five bodies were discovered inside the £30m vessel on Wednesday afternoon after rescuers managed to gain access to cabins in wha has been a complex operation.
It was reported superyacht owner Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah were among those recovered but the bodies have yet to be formally identified.
We will bring you the latest developments throughout the course of the day.
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