The search resumed on Tuesday for the six people missing after a yacht sank in a storm while anchored in front of Porticello, in the Palermo area of Sicily. Of the 22 on board, one person has died and 15 have been rescued.
ADVERTISEMENTThe search for six missing people continued on Tuesday after a yacht sunk off the coast of Sicily, with at least one confirmed dead.
Fifteen people survived, including a mother who reported holding her 1-year-old baby over the waves to save her.
Missing people included UK tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter.
The vacation appeared to be something of a celebration after Lynch's acquittal in a fraud case, with guests including some of the people who had stood by Lynch throughout the ordeal.
Other missing people included Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife. They are believed to still be trapped in the hull 50 metres (164 feet) underwater.
The yacht was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew members.
After a first search on Monday ended unsuccessfully, divers early Tuesday loaded a rescue dinghy at the port of Porticello, near Palermo.
Fire rescue crews reported that divers were unable to access the below-deck cabins because they were blocked by debris that had shifted during the violent storm that toppled the luxury sailboat early Monday.
One body has been recovered, officials said.
"Access was limited to the bridge due to the difficulty represented by the presence of furnishings obstructing the divers' passage," the fire crews said in a statement.
The search was made particularly difficult because the ship was resting on the seabed at a depth of 50 metres, which limits the amount of time divers can be underwater, said fire rescue spokesperson Luca Cari. As a result, Cari said the search is expected to take time.
Divers on Monday recovered the body of a crew member, the cook Ricardo Tomas, but were unable to go beyond the bridge due to the presence of furnishings obstructing the passage.
The missing
Among the missing are British tycoon and yacht owner Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, and Lynch's lawyer Chris Morvillo with his wife Nada.
Hailed as Britain's king of technology, Lynch was cleared in June of fraud and conspiracy charges in a US federal trial related to Hewlett Packard's $11 billion takeover of his company, Autonomy Corp. His wife, Angela Bacares, survived the sinking.
Among those unaccounted for, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s US lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo's wife.
ADVERTISEMENTSurvivors included Charlotte Golunski, who said she momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water but then managed to hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The father, identified by the ANSA as James Emslie, also survived.
The yacht, which was built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Navi, is notable for its massive 75-metre-tall aluminium mast, one of the tallest in the world.