Lynch, 59, was one of the UK’s best-known tech entrepreneurs and had invited friends to join him on the luxurious yacht to celebrate his recent acquittal in a U.S. fraud trial.
The 56-meter Bayesian had been anchored off the Sicilian port of Porticello when the storm struck and witnesses said it disappeared beneath the waves in a matter of minutes, baffling naval marine experts who said such a vessel, presumed to have top-class fittings and safety features, should have been able to withstand such weather.
The yacht is lying on its side at a depth of around 50 metres, apparently largely intact.
Specialist rescuers have been searching inside the hull of the sunken yacht for the past two days. The victims were believed to have been trapped in cabins, which have proved extremely hard to get to, with divers only able to stay in the vessel for 8-10 minutes before having to re-surface.
Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, managed to escape the boat before it capsized, while the body of the onboard chef, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreck hours after the disaster.
Besides the diving team, the Coast Guard has deployed a remotely operated vehicle to scan the seabed and take underwater pictures and videos that it said may provide “useful and timely elements” for prosecutors looking into the disaster.
