PORTICELLO, Sicily — Divers recovered four bodies Wednesday from inside a superyacht that sank in a sudden storm off the coast of Sicily, Salvatore Cocina, head of the island’s civil defense, confirmed to NBC News.
Kosina later confirmed to Sky News that a fifth body had been found and brought to shore, while one passenger remained missing.
The identities of the bodies were not immediately released. The recovery came after days of searching in deep waters off the coast of Italy, where British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and several others are believed to be trapped in the hull. Fifteen of the 22 people on board survived.
The remaining crew had been missing since early Monday after the Basian was caught in a storm while anchored off the coast of Porticello, a village near the Sicilian capital, Palermo.
The body of the ship’s cook, identified as Canadian-Antiguan man Recardo Thomas, was recovered on Monday.
NBC News on Wednesday saw at least three body bags being lifted from a fire department boat into Porticello Harbor. It was unclear whose bodies they belonged to, and some were then loaded into ambulances and taken away from the pier.
Also missing are Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda.
An Italian Fire Service dive crew operates off the coast of Porticello, Italy, on Wednesday. Jonathan Brady/PA via Getty Images
Baysian is owned by a company with ties to Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacalez, who was one of the survivors who boarded a lifeboat and was rescued by a nearby ship.
Built in 2008 by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, the UK-registered yacht can accommodate 12 guests and up to 10 crew members, according to specialist boating site. Its nearly 250-foot mast is the tallest aluminium sailing mast in the world, according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters.
Lynch, frequently described in the British media as “the British Bill Gates”, was acquitted by a San Francisco jury earlier this year of fraud charges arising from the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion.
The Mediterranean sailing holiday was a celebration for Mr Lynch, who was accompanied on the trip by Bloomer, a witness for his own defence, and Morbillo, one of his US lawyers.
Lynch’s co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain, was not on the Baysian but, in what appears to be a tragic coincidence, he was struck and killed by a car while jogging in the village about 68 miles north of London on Saturday, local police said.
Claudio Lavanga and Claudia Rizzo reported from Porticello. Henry Austin reported from London.
