UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch among missing after luxury yacht sinks

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the many six individuals lacking after a luxurious yacht sank off the coast of Sicily within the early hours of Monday morning.

The 56m (183ft) vessel was carrying 22 individuals – 10 crew and 12 passengers – together with British, American and Canadian nationals. Emergency providers rescued 15 individuals, together with a one-year-old British woman.

Native media reported the yacht, crusing underneath the identify Bayesian, sank after encountering a heavy storm in a single day that triggered waterspouts, or rotating columns of air, to look over the ocean.

Mr Lynch, recognized by some as “the British Invoice Gates”, co-founded software program firm Autonomy, which was later bought by tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $11bn (£8.6bn).

Witnesses instructed Italian information company Ansa that the Bayesian’s anchor was down when the storm struck, inflicting the mast to interrupt and the ship to lose its stability and sink.

A waterspout is just like a twister and might kind over oceans, seas or massive lakes.

Divers have recognized a wreckage 50m under the water’s floor and are looking for these lacking.

BBC Confirm has checked out company information and located that Bayesian is tied to his spouse, Angela Bacares.

Sources near the matter have confirmed to the BBC Ms Bacares has been rescued.

The physique of 1 man has been discovered outdoors of the wreckage. His nationality has not been confirmed.

Fifteen individuals managed to get to security after the storm hit.

Ansa information company reported a 35-year-old mom held her one-year-old daughter in her arms within the sea.

The girl, solely named as Charlotte, stated: “For 2 seconds I misplaced the little woman within the sea, then I instantly hugged her once more amidst the fury of the waves.

“I held her tightly, near me, whereas the ocean was stormy. Many have been screaming.

“Fortunately the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us managed to get on board.”

The newborn is ok and the mom was handled with stitches, the company added.

Within the preliminary aftermath, a close-by Dutch-flagged vessel rescued survivors from the waves, tending to them till emergency providers arrived.

Captain Karsten Borner stated after the storm had handed, the crew seen that the yacht that had been behind them had disappeared.

“We noticed a crimson flare, so my first mate and I went to the place, and we discovered this life raft drifting,” he instructed Reuters.

That life raft was carrying 15 survivors, three of whom have been “closely injured”, he stated.

An area fisherman instructed Reuters information company he had seen individuals being rescued by an inflatable boat dispatched from one other yacht.

The captain of an area fishing trawler stated he noticed particles, together with cushions from the deck, floating within the sea.

Footage from the wreckage website confirmed helicopters circling over a number of coastguard vessels as divers carrying vivid orange descended into the water.

Eight of these rescued are receiving therapy in hospital, the Italian coastguard stated.

The western half of the Mediterranean has skilled extreme storms for the reason that center of final week.

By means of Sunday night time and into Monday morning, a clutch of unhealthy climate handed by the north coast of Sicily.

BBC Climate Forecaster Matt Taylor stated: “A waterspout is a twister that has occurred over water somewhat than land.

“They’ll kind throughout intense storms, on the bottom of cumulonimbus/thunder clouds.

“Turbulence, and the wind blowing in barely completely different instructions across the cloud, could cause rotation underneath the bottom of the cloud and the spout to kind.

“Like tornadoes, they convey highly effective winds, however as a substitute of choosing up mud and particles they trigger a water mist across the column of rotating air.”

The UK International Workplace stated it was conscious of the incident and involved with native authorities.

The Bayesian is managed by Camper and Nicholsons Worldwide.

A spokesperson instructed BBC Confirm: “Our precedence is helping with the continued search and offering all essential assist to the rescued passengers and crew.”