CNN
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Initial autopsies on four of the seven people who died when a superyacht sank during a storm off the coast of Italy last month have found the cause of death to be “dry drowning,” authorities said.
The phenomenon, also known as “atypical drowning”, means there was no water in the lungs, windpipe or stomach, said a spokesman for the lawyer for the captain of the Basian, which sank off the Sicilian port city of Porticello on August 19.
There is no medically recognized medical condition called “dry drowning.” Terms such as “dry drowning,” “secondary drowning,” and “delayed drowning” are sometimes used to describe patients whose condition worsens after being rescued from drowning or who have very little water in their lungs. However, the American Red Cross and other health organizations discourage the use of these terms, saying that while there may be health effects after immersion in water, they are not the same as drowning.
Local media reports said the first four victims died likely due to air bubbles found in the cabin where the bodies of five of the victims were found, which consumed all the oxygen before it could become toxic with carbon dioxide.
Authorities said autopsies on U.S. lawyer Chris Morbillo and his wife, Neda Morbillo, and Morgan Stanley banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Anne Elizabeth Judith Bloomer, were carried out on Wednesday at the Palermo General Hospital’s Forensic Medicine Institute.
An inquest into the deaths of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter is due to take place on Friday.
A date for an autopsy has yet to be set for the ship’s chef, Recardo Tomas, due to difficulties in contacting his family in Antigua.
All seven victims were examined for injuries last Saturday and found to have no fractures or other physical injuries that could have contributed to their deaths.
Prosecutors investigating the case first suggested in early August that the victims may have been looking for air pockets.
The inquest is part of a criminal investigation into the ship’s captain, James Cutfield, who was on watch on the night of the incident, the ship’s mechanical engineer Tim Parker Eaton and seaman Matthew Griffiths, none of whom are in Italy.
They are being investigated for “negligent homicide” and shipwreck, but authorities say this does not mean they will be charged with any crime. The prosecutor in charge of the investigation has given them permission to leave the country.
The 56-metre yacht sank within 16 minutes of being hit by a downburst or tornado in the early hours of August 19. The vessel needs to be salvaged for investigation and to ensure that none of the 18,000 litres of fuel it was carrying had leaked into the sea around the port of Porticello, near Palermo.
Tenders are being solicited for the salvage, and the cost will be covered by the company owned by Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacalez, who owns the yacht.
Toxicology test results for the seven victims are expected soon. At a press conference after all the bodies had been recovered, prosecutors said no one on board had been tested for alcohol or drugs.
Lynch and his business partner Stephen Chamberlain, who was killed by a car on the day the Bayesian sank, were acquitted of fraud charges in a US court in June 2024. The charges related to the sale of their company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard, which has indicated it will not drop a civil lawsuit seeking $4 billion in damages currently pending in a UK court.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of Mike Lynch’s business partner.