UK tycoon Mike Lynch missing: How a luxury yacht sank in freak Sicily storm

The luxury British superyacht was carrying 22 people onboard when it was hit by a sudden tornado-like storm on early Monday in Sicily and then sank in water, reportedly trapping six people inside

UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and five others remain missing despite hours of search and rescue efforts following the sinking of a luxury superyacht during a freak storm off Sicily early Monday.

Lynch's wife Angela Bacares and 14 other people survived, Italy's civil protection and authorities said. The superyacht was carrying 22 people onboard, including a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers.

How did British luxury superyacht carrying Mike Lynch sink?

The body of the yacht was discovered at a depth of 50 metres off Porticello, near Palermo. Rescue teams have recovered one body, which is thought to be the yacht’s cook. The missing are believed to be inside the yacht, according to officials.

Salvo Cocina of Sicily's civil protection agency told news agency AP that the chartered sailboat sank off Porticello village after being struck overnight by a waterspout, a tornado-like phenomenon over the water.

According to the officials, the sudden storm struck precisely where the 56-metre British-flagged Bayesian had been anchored. “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Cocina, noting that a similar superyacht was nearby but wasn’t damaged as badly and even helped in the rescue mission.

Helicopters and rescue boats from the coast guard, fire department, and civil protection teams were actively looking for the missing in a frantic search mission.

Fisherman spotted sinking superyacht Bayesian at 4:30 am

A fisherman was among the earliest people to spot the tragedy around 4:30 am. Identified as Francesco Cefalu, he said that by the time he reached the site, only cushions, wood and other items from the superyacht were floating in the water and the rest had sunk. He immediately alerted the coast guard.

Eight of the 15 rescued people have been hospitalised while others have been taken to a hotel. According to officials, the crew and passengers belonged to: the United States, Antigua, France, Germany, Ireland, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain.

The tragedy struck superyacht rents at up to 195,000 euros (approximately $215,000) per week.

Lynch was recently in the news after being cleared of fraud conspiracy charges by the US in June in a case linked to Hewlett Packard's $11 billion acquisition of his company, Autonomy Corp.