British tech tycoon Mike Lynch among six missing in yacht sinking

Environmental Protection Agency

The Bayesian was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew members when it sank.

British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter are among six people missing after their luxury yacht sank off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily early Monday morning.

The 56m (183ft) vessel was carrying 22 people, including British, American and Canadian nationals. Fifteen people, including a 1-year-old British girl, were rescued and authorities are continuing the search through the night.

According to local media, the yacht, named Bayesian, capsized around 5 a.m. local time after being caught in a violent storm overnight that caused a plume of water, or spinning air, to appear over the sea.

Mr Lynch, dubbed the “Britain's Bill Gates” by some, co-founded software company Autonomy, which was later acquired by tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $US11 billion ($8.6 billion).

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Mike Lynch was awarded an OBE in 2006 for services to business.

Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa that the Bayesian's anchor was dropped when the storm struck, its masts broke and the ship became unbalanced, causing it to sink off the coast of Porticello, near the Sicilian capital Palermo.

A tornado is similar to a tornado and can form over an ocean, sea, or large lake.

Divers discovered the wreck 50 metres below the water's surface and are searching for the missing.

Salvatore Coccina, director of the Sicilian Civil Protection Agency, told the BBC that Mr Lynch, his daughter Hannah Lynch and the yacht's cook were among the missing.

He said the search, involving cave exploration and rescue diving teams, would continue through the night.

The body of a man was found outside the rubble. His nationality has not been confirmed.

BBC Verify's review of corporate records found that Bayesian's ownership is linked to Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to the BBC that Mr Barcares had been rescued.

Rescue ship captain declares 'catastrophe'

Fifteen people were evacuated safely after the storm hit.

Ansa News Agency reported that a 35-year-old mother jumped into the sea holding her 1-year-old daughter in her arms.

“I lost sight of my little girl in the ocean for two seconds, but I hugged her tightly through the fury of the waves,” said the woman, who went by the name Charlotte Golunski.

“I hugged her tightly, and while the sea was storming, many people were screaming.

“Fortunately, the lifeboat inflated and all 11 of us were able to board.”

The agency said the baby was fine and the mother underwent stitches.

She added that she was on board the ship with her husband, who is safe and was with colleagues from a company in London.

A doctor working at the Di Cristina Hospital in Palermo, where some of the survivors were transferred, said they were “very tired” and “constantly asked about the missing”.

“We gave this information to the survivors, but they kept talking and crying because they realized there was little hope of finding their friends alive,” Dr. Domenico Cipolla told Reuters.

Survivors said the trip was organized by Lynch for his co-workers.

In the initial aftermath, a nearby Dutch-flagged vessel pulled survivors from the waves and cared for them until emergency services arrived.

Captain Carsten Bornner said that after the storm passed, the crew discovered that the yacht behind them had disappeared.

“We saw the red flares so the captain and I went to that location and found the lifeboat adrift,” he told Reuters.

There were 15 survivors on the lifeboat, three of whom suffered “serious injuries”, he said.

Watch: Divers search for yacht off Sicilian coast during rescue operation

A local fisherman told Reuters he saw people being rescued aboard a rubber dinghy sent from another yacht.

The captain of a local fishing boat said he saw debris, including cushions that had been on deck, floating in the sea.

Footage from the wreck site showed divers in bright orange suits descending into the water while a helicopter circled several Coast Guard vessels.

Eight of those rescued are receiving treatment in hospital, according to the Italian Coast Guard.

Reuters

One person has been confirmed dead, according to the Italian Coast Guard.

Severe storms have been hitting the western Mediterranean since mid-last week.

Severe weather struck the northern coast of Sicily from Sunday night into Monday morning.

“A tornado is a tornado that forms over water, not land,” said BBC weather forecaster Matt Taylor.

“These clouds can form in strong storms or at the base of cumulonimbus/thunderclouds.

“Turbulence and winds blowing in slightly different directions around the cloud can cause rotation beneath the cloud base and form a jet.

“Like a tornado, it brings strong winds, but rather than sweeping up dust and debris, it creates a mist around the rotating column of air.”

The Foreign Office said it was supporting several British nationals and their families following the incident in Sicily. The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Service is also sending a team of investigators to conduct a “preliminary assessment” into the sinking of the UK-registered vessel.

The registered owner of Bayesian is Revtom Ltd. The superyacht can accommodate up to 12 guests in six suites.

The yacht's name is said to be derived from Bayesian theory, which was the basis of Mr. Lynch's doctoral thesis.

Ms Barcares, Mr Lynch's wife, was named as the sole legal owner of Revtom, which was registered in the Isle of Man.

A spokesperson for Camper & Nicholson International, the company that manages the 2008-built boat, told BBC Verify: “Our priority is to support the ongoing search and provide all necessary assistance to the rescued passengers and crew.”

Mr Lynch sold his company, Autonomy, to US computing giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11 billion (£8.6 billion) in 2011.

But a bitter legal battle following the high-profile acquisition has dogged Mr Lynch for more than a decade. He was acquitted of multiple fraud charges in the United States in June, and has been in prison for 20 years.

The yacht sank on the same day as Mr Lynch's accomplice in the fraud, Stephen Chamberlain, was killed in a car crash in Cambridgeshire on Saturday, his lawyers confirmed.

Additional reporting by BBC Verify's Joshua Cheetham

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