Italy

Billionaire tech tycoon Mike Lynch among missing as superyatch sinks

Author: Editors Desk Source: News Corp Australia Network:

August 19, 2024 at 14:47

One person has died and six are missing after a luxury superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily following a storm.

A tech tycoon who has been dubbed ‘Britain’s Bill Gates’ is reportedly among the four Brits missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mike Lynch is still missing hours after the $27m luxury ship Bayesian capsized in a tornado.

Three other British tourists are feared dead after the boat sank off the coast of the Italian island this morning.

Lynch was one of the 22 people sailing on-board the $320,000 a week vessel, the Telegraph reported.

Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is among those who have been rescued.

Three other Brits, two Americans, and one Canadian are among the remaining six missing.

Image of the boat on Sunday night. (Fabio La Bianca)

Italian firefighters transport a body bag with a victim after a superyacht sank off the coast of Porticello. (Photo by Igor Petyx / ANSA / AFP)

The lifeless body of one victim who was sailing on-board the doomed yacht has already been pulled from the Mediterranean.

Lynch is a serial entrepreneur having founded and sold tech and software companies. He was awarded an OBE for his services to enterprise in 2006.

He was extradited to the US on fraud charges in 2023 with a judge setting his bail at $152m.Invoke Capital, one of Lynch’s companies has been approached for comment by The Sun.

The yacht is believed to have been flooded by water after a tornado off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, just before 5am local time on Monday morning. A man’s body was tragically found underwater alongside the shipwreck by divers, reports Corriere Della Sera.

At least 15 people were saved by coast guards, patrol boats, firefighters and local fishermen – with seven still missing.

Helicopters, divers, patrol boats and firefighters are all helping with the desperate search of the area.

An expert team of divers have already been able to locate the vessel 48 metres below the water on the seabed.

Sicily is currently under a weather warning for strong winds.

Almost all of the 22 passengers and crew on-board are said to have been inside their cabins and rooms when the weather took a turn.

One person was killed and rescuers were searching for six others missing after a superyacht with 22 people aboard sank during a sudden storm off the coast of Italy's Sicily. (Photo by Igor Petyx / ANSA / AFP)

A one-year-old British girl was rescued by her mother in the sea after the sinking before they were rushed to hospital.

Mum Charlotte spoke about the frantic rescue, telling Giornale di Sicilia: “For two seconds I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves.

“I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy. Many were screaming.

“Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us managed to get on board.”

The father was also on-board at the time of the horror ordeal.

Charlotte managed to swim over to one of the rafts where she and her daughter were taken to safety along with 11 others.

It sails under a British flag, according to a Facebook post Sunday evening.

The ship is managed by Camper and Nicholsons International.