In Italy, a superyacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily, killing seven people, including British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his daughter. On Saturday, prosecutors said they were looking into culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter.
Termini Imerese prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio stated that the investigation has begun but that no suspect has been found yet.
“The investigation is still in its early stages.” “Right now, we can’t rule out any kind of development,” he told reporters at a news conference.
Cartosio said that his team will carefully think about all the possible areas of duty, such as those of the ship’s captain, crew, people in charge of supervision, shipbuilder, and others.
“I think it’s likely that crimes were committed; it could be a case of manslaughter,” he said. “But we can’t be sure until you give us time to investigate.”
Investigators are mostly interested in why a sailboat that was made by the Italian factory Perini Navi and was supposed to be “unsinkable” sank while a nearby sailboat was mostly unharmed.
Authorities charged with the case said it happened “extremely quickly” and the information they had pointed to a “downburst,” which is a strong wind that comes down from a thunderstorm and quickly spreads out when it hits the ground.
At first, officials from Civil Protection said they thought the boat, which had a unique 75-meter (246-foot) aluminum mast, had been hit by a waterspout, which is a type of tornado that happens over water.
Investigators were also asked why, while six passengers stayed trapped in the hull, almost all of the crew was saved except for the cook.
An official in the area stated that most of the bodies found were in the same area of the ship, close to the exit, which suggests that people were trying to get off.
Deputy Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said it was possible that the passengers were asleep. He also said that one of the main goals of the investigation is to find out if someone woke them up.
Cammarano said that there was one person taking care of things in the cabin.
The British-flagged luxury boat The Bayesian sank in a storm near a Mediterranean island in southern Italy early Monday. On Friday, rescuers brought the last of seven bodies from the shipwreck to shore. Ten people worked on the ship, and 12 people were on board.
Hannah Lynch, 18, was the seventh victim. She was the daughter of Mike Lynch and her body was found Thursday. He was celebrating with his family and the lawyers who had protected him in court in the US after being found not guilty of fraud charges. His wife Angela Bacares was one of the 15 people who made it out alive.
Rescuers worked hard for four days but could not find all the bodies because the wreck was 50 meters (164 feet) below the top of the water and they could only move slowly through it.
Chris Morvillo, one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, and his wife Neda; Jonathan Bloomer, head of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife Judy; and Recaldo Thomas, the chef on the yacht, are the other five people who were killed.
