PORTICELLO, Sicily — Divers found two bodies Wednesday inside a superyacht that sank in a sudden storm off Sicily, a source familiar with rescue operations told NBC News.
It is unclear whose bodies were found, but the discovery follows a dayslong search in the deep seas off the Italian coast where British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and five others were believed trapped in the luxury sailboat’s hull.
They have been missing since early Monday, when the Bayesian was caught in the storm while anchored off the coast of Porticello, a village near the Sicilian capital city of Palermo. Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived.
Officials confirmed Monday that one body had been recovered, identified as the ship’s cook, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas.
On Wednesday, NBC News witnessed what appeared to be at least three body bags being lifted from fire department boats after they pulled into port at Porticello. It was unclear whose bodies they were. Some were later transferred to ambulances and driven away from the dock.
Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah; Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, are also missing.
The Bayesian is owned by a firm linked to Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who was among the survivors rescued by a nearby vessel after getting into a lifeboat.
Built by Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi in 2008, the U.K.-registered yacht could carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10, according to online specialist boating sites. Its nearly 250-foot mast is the tallest aluminum sailing mast in the world, according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters.
Regularly described in U.K. media as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” Lynch was acquitted of fraud by a San Francisco jury earlier this year, stemming from the 2011 sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion.
The Mediterranean sailing vacation was designed to be a celebration for Lynch, who brought Bloomer, who testified in his defense, and Morvillo, one of his U.S. lawyers, on the trip.
Lynch’s co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain was not aboard the Bayesian, but in what appears to be a tragic coincidence, a car struck and killed Chamberlain on Saturday as he was jogging in a village about 68 miles north of London, local police said.
Claudio Lavanga and Claudia Rizzo reported from Porticello. Henry Austin reported from London.
