Italy has been hit by storms and torrential rain in recent days, with floods and landslides causing severe damage in the northern part of the country after weeks of intense heat.
Witnesses told Italian news agency ANSA that during a storm the yacht’s mast broke, the boat lost its balance and sank near the village of Porticello, near Palermo. However, eyewitnesses of the storm say the bad weather was not expected to be so intense.
According to the ship tracking app VesselFinder, the Bayesian left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on August 14 and last appeared on radar east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “anchored.” On the evening of August 19, bad weather worsened further, which is why the accident occurred.
It should be noted that 15 passengers were rescued. Among them is a one-year-old child. One person is also reported dead and six are missing. Among those who the rescuers were unable to locate are citizens of the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.
Among those missing is Mike Lynch, 59, co-founder of Autonomy Corporation and founder of Invoke Capital, described as “the British Bill Gates.” The billionaire was charged with fraud: in June 2024, a San Francisco jury acquitted Lynch of selling his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011.
Eight rescued people were taken to local hospitals. All of them are in stable condition, local media reported.
