YACHT HEARTBREAK
Mike Lynch ‘confirmed dead’ in Bayesian superyacht disaster as daughter Hannah, 18, ‘is final body yet to be recovered’
Cops quizzed the captain of the doomed yacht for over two hours about the disaster
THE FIVE people found dead in the wreck of the Bayesian superyacht have reportedly been identified including Brit billionaire businessman Mike Lynch.
Morgan Stanley chief Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda are the remaining four confirmed dead, a source has said.
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Mike's daughter Hannah, 18, is still missing after the Italian coastguard identified the five bodies, Sky News reports.
The business tycoon was recovered this morning from the wreck, a source close to the operation told Reuters.
A team of divers recovered the body said to be Mike, 59, from the boat as day four of the rescue efforts resumed.
Pictures showed rescuers lifting the body from a boat into Porticello Harbour at around 8.45am local time.
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Tributes have been paid to the tech whizz by various colleagues and friends including Lord John Browne of the Francis Crick Institute - a biomedical research centre.
Mr Browne remembered Mike as a "human being of great ability".
Four of the missing six - now thought to be the two couples - were recovered on Wednesday, with divers locating the fifth before calling off the search in the evening.
Two of them were found trapped behind a mattress in a cabin in the hull, la Repubblica reported.
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Sicily’s civil protection chief Salvo Cocina initially told the bodies belonged to Mike and Hannah.
But Italian outlet later reported that the four bodies recovered were Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy and Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda.
The Italian coast guard appears to have confirmed these reports today.
Fifteen of the 22 onboard were rescued when the luxury yacht capsized and sank in a storm around 5am on Monday morning off the coast of Sicily.
The yacht chef - Recaldo Thomas - was later found dead near the boat, with the total confirmed number of dead now at six.
Sicily civil protection director-general Salvo Cocina told The Telegraph after the bodies were found on Wednesday: “On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and express our condolences to them at this difficult time.”
It comes as...
- Mike Lynch's daughter Hannah, 18, presumed missing after five bodies found on the wreck reportedly identified
- Lynch's shell-shocked wife revealed how she was awoken by a 'tilt' as the yacht sank
- The captain of the Bayesian broke his silence on the horror storm and was quizzed by cops for over two hours
- Experts believe the yacht's 'tallest mast in the world' may have contributed to the disaster after a freak ‘Black Swan’ weather event struck
- Pictures showed the tiny raft that saved up to 15 people
- Frantic text messages from the survivors revealed the chaos
Who is Mike Lynch?
FORMER billionaire entrepreneur Mike Lynch was reportedly confirmed dead on Thursday morning after a £14m luxury yacht capsized in a tornado off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning.
He is thought to be among the five bodies recovered from the sunken boat alongside Morgan Stanley chief Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda.
The tech tycoon, dubbed "Britain's Bill Gates", was one of the 22 people sailing onboard the £166,000 a week vessel.
Lynch, 59, was a serial entrepreneur having founded and sold tech and software companies with one of his biggest being Autonomy Corporation.
He was also been involved in Invoke Capital and cybersecurity company Darktrace.
As well as being awarded an OBE for his services to enterprise in 2006.
Born in Ilford, Lynch had a firefighter father from County Cork and a nurse mother from County Tipperary.
Away from work, Mike was happily married to wife Angela Bacares and the pair had two children together.
Angela is among those who have been rescued on the superyacht.
In 2023, the Sunday Times rich list set the couple's value at £852m.
But Mike was extradited to the US on fraud charges back in 2023 with a judge setting his bail at £79m.
Just weeks ago, Lynch was acquitted of criminal charges by a jury in San Francisco after a 12-year legal battle over the $11bn sale of his firm, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
The doomed yacht, named Bayesian, is also said to be owned by the Lynch family.
The ultra-luxurious yacht plunged beneath waves in the early hours of Monday after being hammered by a rare "Black Swan" weather event.
According to witnesses, the 246ft tall mast was battered by the twister-like cloud of air, toppling the boat and causing it to capsize.
Lynch's wife - Angela Bacares, 57 - was one of those who managed to escape in a tiny life raft as the vessel was dragged under.
Italian officials have launched an investigation, as have the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch, into how the superyacht sank.
Maritime experts agreed the yacht may have been sunk by the freak "Black Swan" waterspout which would have appeared without warning.
Captain of the doomed yacht James Cutfield, 51, was grilled by cops for over two hours after divers discovered the boat's keel was raised - a structural backbone of the boat which could have affected its stability during the storm.
Rescuers deployed an underwater drone robot to assist in the search mission on Wednesday with pictures showing divers operating it from a boat on the surface.
It can remain underwater for up to seven hours at a depth of 300m, recording helpful images and video.
Although the 184ft yacht is lying "practically intact" on its side at the bottom of the sea, rescuers have been struggling to get inside.
Some 164ft down, the rotating team of divers face a time crunch as they only have 10 minutes to search each time they go down.
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Diver Marco Tilotta also said there was a "world of objects" including furniture and debris obstructing the narrow stairs in front of the cabins in the wreck.
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