Scuba divers scouring the wreck of British tech magnate Mike Lynch‘s family yacht, which sank off Sicily two days ago, have found two bodies inside it, a source close to rescue operations said on Wednesday.
Inspection of the wreck, lying sideways at a depth of around 50 meters, was a “long and complex” operation, the Italian fire department said, with inside spaces obstructed by furniture and debris, and scuba divers having just 8-10 minutes beneath the water before needing to resurface.
The Coast Guard has been questioning survivors, including the captain of the Bayesian and passengers on the yacht that was moored next to it who witnessed the ship going down, judicial sources said.
MISSING PASSENGERS
Lynch, 59, is one of the UK’s best-known tech entrepreneurs and has been referred to as the country’s Bill Gates.
He built the UK’s largest software firm, Autonomy, which was sold to HP for $11 billion in 2011, after which the deal spectacularly unraveled with the US tech giant accusing him of fraud, resulting in a lengthy trial. Lynch was acquitted on all charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.
The Bayesian, which was owned by Lynch’s wife, was built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008 and last refitted in 2020. It had the world’s tallest aluminum mast, measuring 72 meters, according to its makers.
