Body of Mike Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, recovered from Bayesian superyacht - as manslaughter probe launched
23 August 2024, 11:22 | Updated: 23 August 2024, 12:32
Divers have discovered a body in the search for Mike Lynch's missing 18-year-old daughter following the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht.
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Six bodies have now been discovered in the search for the missing passengers - five of whom were formally identified yesterday.
The body, recovered by divers on Friday, is believed to be that of missing Hannah Lynch, the daughter of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, with formal identification yet to take place.
The news was confirmed on Friday morning by the Italian Coastguard, with 18-year-old passenger the only person aboard to remain unaccounted for following the sinking of the superyacht.
Mr Lynch, his daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo were lost when the Bayesian sank at around 5am on Monday.
All have now been confirmed dead.
It comes as Italian authorities launched a manslaughter investigation into the sinking on Friday.
Of the 22 passengers and crew aboard the boat, 15 were rescued, including Mr Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares.
The group were picked up in a life raft by a nearby boat after firing a flare into the night sky.
Following the news of the 18-year-old's disappearance, a spokesperson for Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, west London, where Hannah was a former pupil, said: "We are all incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic incident and our thoughts are with their family and everyone involved as we await further updates."
The teenager, who had recently graduated, was due to study at Oxford University.Earlier this week
Now, the Prosecutor's Office of Termini Imerese, led by Ambrogio Cartosio, said it is investigating the reasons behind the sinking.
Read More: Sailing yachts like Mike Lynch’s are ‘unsinkable’, claims CEO of company that builds them
Authorities have said they are now 'investigating shipwreck and multiple counts of culpable manslaughter' after the boat capsized off the coast near Palermo, Sicily, shortly before 5am on Monday.
The prosecutor's office has announced a press conference is set to take place on Saturday morning to provide an update.
It's been suggested the boat sank in as little as 60 seconds, based on eye-witness reports.
Italian Coastguard has said the search for Mike Lynch's missing daughter "has not been easy".
Vincenzo Zagarola likened conditions in the sunken superyacht to an "18-storey building full of water".
"From the first moment it has not been easy or quick to inspect the boat," he told the PA news agency.
"Think of an 18-storey building full of water."
The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the superyacht Bayesian, was recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday.
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch's acquittal in a fraud case in the US. The businessman, who founded the software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.
A decision on whether to raise the sunken yacht from the seabed is "not on the agenda", but will be in the future, a spokesman from the Italian Coastguard has said.
