Five bodies have been found in the wreck of a luxury yacht that sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.
A "complex" search has been underway for six people - British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, British couple Jonathan and Judy Bloomer, and American couple Christopher and Neda Morvillo - since the tragic sinking in the early hours of Monday.
The yacht – named the Bayesian – was moored half-a-mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank rapidly in severe weather, around 5am local time on Monday.
Search teams believed the six missing people were trapped inside the yacht’s sleeping cabins, but efforts to reach the rooms have been hampered by debris that obstructed access. Search efforts have also been hampered by the depth and angle of the vessel, which is lying on the seabed around 50m below the waves.
Divers scouring the wreck have now found the bodies of five of the missing six passengers, Sicily’s civil protection agency has confirmed.
One of the bodies belonged to a heavily built man, a source told news agency Reuters. Rescue teams did not immediately give the names or the sex of the drowned people, who are the second and third victims of the shipwreck to be found.
The body of the yacht's cook, Recaldo Thomas, was located shortly after the vessel sank. Fifteen other people escaped the tragedy on a lifeboat. Two remain missing.
