Mike Lynch yacht sinking tragedy update as manslaughter probe is launched into deaths of seven people
Bodies of Mike Lynch and daughter Hannah recovered from sunken superyacht
Getty/Perini Navi Press Office/Reuters
A manslaughter investigation has been opened after seven people died following the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, an Italian prosecutor said.
British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among seven people recovered.
Speaking at a press conference, Chief Prosecutor of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, said investigators "cannot exclude anything at all" and that it "could be a question of homicide".
He said that his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter.
Bodies of Mike Lynch and daughter Hannah recovered from sunken superyachtGetty/Perini Navi Press Office/ReutersThe body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the superyacht, was recovered at the scene on Monday.
Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo were also recovered from the wreckage.
Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat.
The prosecutor's office added that the investigation of a "crime hypothesis" is at its early stages.
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Official said they are not investigating anyone specifically at the moment.
Girolamo Bentivoglio said that specialised divers attempting to retrieve the bodies had to deal with “very little visibility due to the weather conditions”.
The search-and-rescue operation involved “some 70 people” each day.
According to the Palermo fire service, the bodies of six people were recovered from cabins on the left side of the yacht after it had sunk.
Girolamo Bentivoglio said: "The yacht obviously pinned to the right and obviously the (people) tried to go on the other side and then took refuge in their cabins.
Eerie CCTV footage shows how the superyacht slipped out of sight in a matter of secondsReuters“We found four or five bodies in the cabin on the left and there was another one in the third cabin on the left too, and obviously they were in the higher part of the wreck."
Officials will be looking at the safety equipment that was on the sunken yacht, according to Maritime director of western Sicily Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda.
When asked about whether there a "black box" has been retrieved, Macauda said: "We haven’t got exact information about the black box. It was extremely difficult to get inside some of the cabins and the yacht itself.
“The first phase of this inquiry will certainly concentrate on confirming the presence of such things and the retrieval of the bodies.
“We can’t reply with any certainty about that yet."