A luxury superyacht was hit by a tornado and capsized off the coast of Sicily early Monday, authorities said, killing one passenger and leaving six people missing, including two Americans.
The 160-foot luxury yacht, with 22 people on board, sank off the port of Porticello after being hit by a severe storm at sunrise, according to the Italian Coast Guard.
One body was found near the capsized boat, but six others were still missing on Monday morning.
The last photo that appears to have been taken of the yacht in Porticello at 10pm on Sunday. BAIA Santa Nicolicchia / Facebook A still taken from footage of the storm that hit the port. BAIA Santa Nicolicchia / Facebook
Among the missing were four Britons, two Americans and one Canadian, according to the Guardian.
Fifteen people were rescued from the sinking ship, eight of whom, including a one-year-old child, were taken to local hospitals and all were in stable condition, Italian media reported.
An Italian coast guard spokesman told CNN that the captain was among the survivors.
Helicopters and rescue boats from the Coast Guard, police, Fire and Rescue Service and Civil Defence arrived at the scene early on Monday morning to search for the missing, according to the Australian Press Agency.
The mega-yacht, called “Bayesian”, is British flagged and can reach a top speed of 15 knots.
Divers jump into the sea to search for missing people after the yacht was hit by a storm. @vigilidelfuoco/X Rescue teams try to free passengers aboard a luxury superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily early on Monday. REUTERS/ The Italian coast guard said the 160-foot luxury yacht was carrying 22 people and sank off the port of Porticello at sunrise after being hit by a severe storm. REUTERS The passengers on board were British, American and Canadian nationals. REUTERS/
Twelve of the passengers were guests and 10 were crew members.
According to the ship-tracking app Vessel Finder, the ship left the Sicily port of Milazzo on August 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening.
With post wire.
