Roma.-A luxury sailing boat carrying foreign tourists capsized and sank off Sicily in bad weather early Monday. One body was found, six people were missing and 15 were rescued, authorities said.
The 56-metre (184-foot) long, British-flagged Bayesian had a crew of 10 and 12 passengers of British, American and Canadian nationality, the Italian coast guard said.
Fifteen people were initially rescued and taken to the coast of Porticello, where eight of them are hospitalised. One body was found near the wreck, but six other people are missing, said Luca Cari, spokesman for the Italian fire service.
“A body was found in the wreck, but has not yet been recovered, at a depth of about 50 metres,” a coastguard spokesman told AFP.
A helicopter and rescue boats from the coastguard, the carabinieri, the fire brigade and civil protection were on the scene searching for the missing and located the shipwreck at a depth of 50 metres. The boat capsized at around 5am off the port of Porticello.
The boat belonged to a group of tourists who had chosen Sicily for their holidays and the survivors who have already disembarked are mostly English citizens, but there is also a New Zealander, an Irishman and another from Sri Lanka.
Among the 15 survivors, a mother and her one-year-old daughter were taken to the Children’s Hospital in Palermo for check-ups, while the father was admitted to another hospital in the Sicilian capital and five other passengers were treated in an outpatient clinic.
Experienced divers were arriving at the scene to try to enter the hull, which lies at a depth of 49 metres (160 feet), it said. Among those not rescued were one crew member and six passengers, the coast guard said.
Searches are currently continuing with a helicopter, divers and coastguard vessels.
Local media said a strong storm, including downpours, had hit the area overnight, but skies were clear and the sea calm on Monday morning.
The ANSA news agency said the yacht, built in 2008 by Italian firm Perini Navi, was moored off the port of Porticello.
The vessel features a Japanese-style interior design, sycamore wood, fir, teak, ebony and leather, and a forward seating area convertible into a fully enclosed glass terrace.
This type of sailboat has a main aluminium mast, considered the tallest in the world, at 75 metres. Its sails have a surface area of 3,000 m².
The ship was previously known as the “Salute”.Infobae.
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2024-08-22 21:15:07
