Four Britons are reportedly among six people missing after a luxury superyacht sailboat sunk off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning as a tornado hit the area.
A body has been found after the 56-metre boat, which had 22 people on board, sunk around 5am near Porticello, Palermo, Italian authorities reported.
British tech boss Mike Lynch is missing from the vessel, named by the SuperYacht Times as the Perini Navi sailing yacht Bayesian.
His teenage daughter Hannah, 18, is also thought to be missing.
The daily Il Giornale de Sicilia reported the sailboat was flying a British flag and had been moored in the port at Porticello. It had set sail on Sunday evening.
The outlet reported that firefighter divers have recovered a body in their search for missing yachtsmen near the vessel’s hull.
The vessel had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, representing British, American and Canadian nationalities, the Italian coast guard said.
Fifteen people, including a one-year-old child, were rescued by Italian Coast Guard patrol boats and taken to shore at Porticello. Eight people were taken to hospital.
The child’s mother described how she “held her daughter tightly” amid the “fury of the waves”.
A helicopter and rescue boats from the coast guard, carabinieri, fire rescue and civil protection service were at the scene searching for the missing and had located the wreck at a depth of 50 metres.
