Luxury sailboat Bayesian was destroyed after encountering a mini-tornado off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, near Palermo. 22 people were onboard the vessel including 10 crew members, 4 British nationals, a Canadian, 2 Americans and some passengers from New Zealand. Currently, 15 passengers have been rescued including a 1 year old English infant that was rushed to a pediatric hospital in Palermo. Among the missing reported are British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah. His wife Angela was among those rescued.
The ship was located about a half a mile off the Sicilian coast. Search and rescue is ongoing. The deceased body recovered has not been identified. Reports state that the ship left the port of Milazzo on Wednesday, August 14th and was anchored about 700 meters off the port of Porticello when a violent storm hit the area Monday morning. The waterspout made direct contact with the vessel. A local fisherman that witnessed the incident stated that the Bayesian “disappeared all of a sudden” after being hit by the waterspout, after which he saw it “sink with my own eyes.” Fisherman Fabio Cefalu rushed to assist the passengers but only found remnants of the ship.
Italian port authorities have opened an investigation into the incident and are reinforcing search efforts to find the remaining passengers.
