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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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One person has died and six others are missing after a luxury yacht was struck by a freak tornado off the coast of Sicily at dawn on Monday.
Two Americans, four Britons, including tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, and a Canadian were initially unaccounted for following the tragedy, which occurred between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time, according to Italian media reports.
The 160-foot yacht**, Bayesian,** sank off the coast of Palermo with 22 on board, including ten crew and 12 tourists, said Italian news agency ANSA. Tourists from New Zealand, France and Sri Lanka are also believed to be among the passengers.
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The body of a man, the only personconfirmed dead, was retrieved next to the sunken yacht on Monday, ANSA reported. Palermo's coastguard identified him later that evening as the ship's cook. He has not been formally identified.
British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was among those missing, and his wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 rescued, Reuters and PA news reported.
Raised in the U.K. county of Essex, Lynch created tech company Autonomy in 1996 and sold it for $11 billion to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. A year later, the U.S. company took an $8.8 billion writedown in the firm's value after discovering "serious accounting improprieties" at Autonomy and accused Lynch of perpetrating a $5 billion fraud. Earlier this year, Lynch was cleared of all fraud charges in the HP trial.
The tornado struck off Porticello, about 12 miles from the city of Palermo. Witnesses told ANSA that the $18 million yacht was still near the Porticello harbor with the sail down when a violent storm hit the area and engulfed the sailing boat.
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The boat sank and the wreck is now over 164 feet deep at the bottom of the sea, reported Italian news media, including ANSA and Il Post.
Fifteen have so far been rescued and taken to hospitals in the Sicilian city, including a one-year-old child who was taken to Palermo's children's hospital.
The 35-year-old British mother of the one-year old child told ANSA: "For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea." She was able to find her again, and kept her safe during the storm: "I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was in a tempest. Many people screamed. Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us were able to get on board," she said.
Crew members and passengers were first rescued by a nearby sailing boat, the Sir Robert BP, and later by the Italian Coast Guard, according to the Il Post.
Rescue operations continue in the area with the involvement of four vessels and a helicopter from the Italian Coast Guard, as well as professional divers.
Authorities suspect that some of the missing people may have been in their cabins when the yacht was struck by the freak tornado and might have been trapped there.
A video shared on social media by Italian authorities shows the Coast Guard's vessels during rescue operations after the incident. The sea appears relatively calm after the sudden storm earlier this morning.
Another clip shared on X shows a helicopter flying over the area and divers trying to reach the wreck.
The yacht, Bayesian, was built in 2008 and refitted in 2020 by Italy's Perini Navi. It had the world's second tallest mast and largest aluminum mast at 246 feet.
Sicilian news channel TRM Web Sicilia reported that the yacht ran luxury cruises across the Mediterranean Sea. The Bayesian had left the harbor in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, before passing the Strait of Gibraltar. The last destination before reaching the Porticello harbor had been Milazzo, another town in Sicily.
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Update, 8/19/24 7:20 a.m. ET: This breaking news article was updated to offer more details on the incident.
Update, 8/19/24 10:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add that Mike Lynch is among those missing.
Correction: 8/20/24, 7:25 a.m. ET: The person confirmed dead was a crew member, not a passenger as previously stated.
Update: 8/20/24, 7:25 a.m. ET: More details have been added about the person confirmed dead.
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