Italian prosecutor launches manslaughter probe into Lynch yacht sinking
TERMINI IMERESE, Italy – Sicilian prosecutors announced on Saturday that they have launched a manslaughter investigation into the deaths of British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, following the sinking of a luxury yacht in stormy weather off Sicily.
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Termini Imerese has filed a case against unknown persons, citing charges of shipwreck due to negligence and multiple counts of manslaughter… It is possible that we will identify suspects before the wreck is recovered,” said Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio at a press conference.
Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, were among the victims, as the family’s 56-meter-long yacht, the Bayesian, sank early Monday morning after a violent storm. Its wreck now lies 50 meters deep, approximately 700 meters from the Porticello harbour.
The speed at which the yacht sank and the fact that other boats around it were sound have raised suspicions. Additionally, “there was no storm warning for that evening,” according to Raffaele Macauda, commander of the Port Authority of Palermo.
