- Among the missing are technology magnate Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter. Photo: EFE
The sinking of the sailing ship “Bayesian” off the coast of Sicily, Italy, on Monday, August 19, left at least one person dead and six tourists missing, including British technology magnate Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
The director general of Civil Protection in Sicily, Salvatore Cocina, told the British channel BBC that rescue operations hope to “achieve results” between the evening and morning of August 20.
The tycoon’s wife, Angela Bacares, and sole legal owner of the yacht “Bayesian”, registered in the British Isle of Man, is among the 15 people rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, which also found the lifeless body of the man believed to be the boat’s cook.
The boat was hit by a tornado
The family was among 22 passengers on board the British-flagged sailing vessel. According to witnesses, a strong tornado in the area broke the main mast, causing the vessel to become unbalanced, capsize and sink.
According to a spokesman for the Italian Coast Guard, the vessel was hit by the tornado at around 5:00 a.m., when it was anchored about 800 meters from the port of Porticello, on the Mediterranean island.
Divers are searching the hull of the sunken ship, which lies at a depth of 49 metres, while patrol boats and Coast Guard helicopters are searching for the missing in the area, while more divers are arriving from Naples and Rome.
Who is Mike Lynch?
Mike Lynch, 59, studied Physics, Mathematics and Biochemistry at Cambridge University. He has launched several recognition software companies and founded the technology company Autonomy in 1996, which is why he is often dubbed the “British Bill Gates” and is considered one of the UK’s most influential tech entrepreneurs.
In 2011, Lynch sold his company to computer giant Hewlett Packard (HP) for $11 billion, generating profits of $800 million and a lawsuit lasting more than 13 years, from which he was acquitted in June.
HP said it had found “serious accounting irregularities” at Autonomy and accused Lynch of 17 charges – later reduced to 15 – of “fraud and conspiracy”. If found guilty, he faced up to 25 years in prison in the United States and remained under house arrest in San Francisco for over a year awaiting trial, after being extradited from the United Kingdom in May 2023.
In an interview with the British newspaper The Times at the end of July, Lynch said that, had he been convicted, given his age and a serious lung disease, he believed he would die in an American prison: “I have several medical conditions that would have made my survival difficult.”
UK sent investigators to Sicily
The United Kingdom sent a delegation of investigators to the Italian island of Sicily to carry out a “preliminary assessment” after the sinking of the yacht. This was confirmed to EFE by a spokesman for the British Marine Accident Investigation Division, who said that this is “a normal procedure” in this type of case.
The team, made up of four investigators, will be sent to Palermo to carry out investigations into the sinking of the yacht “Bayasian”.
The British Foreign Office confirmed in a statement sent to EFE that it is “offering consular assistance to a number of British citizens and their families following an incident in Sicily” and that it is in contact with local authorities.
With information from EFE.
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2024-08-21 06:15:52
