Divers searching the shipwreck of a £30million luxury superyacht have found the bodies of two missing passengers.
Search teams made the tragic discovery today while scouring through the Bayesian, which sank off the coast of Sicily after being hit by a ‘black swan’ waterspout on Monday morning.
The body of at least one person was brought ashore shortly before 3pm local time, before being placed into a waiting ambulance in the harbour of Porticello.
The remains of the pair, whose names or sex have not yet been revealed, were reportedly found in the hull of the boat behind two mattresses, with claims that one is a ‘heavily built man’.
Six guests, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah have been missing since then, with specialist divers desperately trying to access the boat amid hope survivors could be alive in air pockets inside the vessel.
Also unaccounted for since disaster struck is Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy and American citizens Chris Morvillo and his jewellery designer wife Neda Morvillo.
It comes as:
A body was seen being taken ashore in Porticello after being recovered from the Bayesian this afternoon
A pair of search divers kneel above a body bag as it is brought into Porticello harbour this afternoon
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is one of six people who are missing after his superyacht the Bayesian sank. Pictured: Mr Lynch with his wife Angela Bacares, who survived the disaster
Chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer (pictured), and his wife are also missing
Mr Lynch’s attorney Christopher Morvillo (pictured) and his wife Neda are also missing after the yacht sank
Neda and Christopher Movillo (pictured together) had joined Mr Lynch on the trip to the Mediterranean
Judy Bloomer, who is missing, is a supporter and former board member of the Eve Appeal, a charity that raises awareness and funds research into gynaecological cancer
The huge Bayesian (pictured) overturned during a severe thunderstorm on Monday morning
The news came after a marked increase in activity at the port in the last two hours, with more boats than normal going to and from the site.
An ambulance siren could be heard threading its way through the streets of Porticello, and was believed to have joined the large group of emergency vehicles from police, coastguard and the fire service, ringing the tiny port.
At 2.58pm UK time a fire service boat bearing what appeared to be at least one body bag came into shore.
Rescue workers lined the shore as the boat drew alongside, with a coastguard vessel pulling in front to block the view of media so the body could be removed with dignity.
The body bag was then taken to a waiting ambulance in the harbour.
The challenging operation has been hampered by issues, including access to cabins being blocked by debris and thick silt preventing divers from being able to see inside windows.
The discovery of the bodies would diminish hopes that the remaining four missing passengers will be found alive as the rescue mission enters its third day.
The yacht had been carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers when it was hit by tornado-speed winds during a severe thunderstorm at 5am on Monday, August 19.
Such was the force of the impact, the boat sank beneath the waves, completely disappearing in ‘just 60 seconds’ and leaving those on board in a race to save themselves.
While 15 people were able to make it to safety, including a British mother who heroically held her baby daughter afloat in the pitch-black waters, seven people were unaccounted for.
The body of one crew member, Canadian-Antiguan chef Recaldo Thomas who was the on-board cook, was discovered hours later as a rescue operation got underway.
But in the days that have followed there has been no sign of six other missing people and hopes that survivors would be found have dwindled and was followed by the grim reports more bodies had been found this afternoon.
The search operation has been beset with problems, with floating debris blocking the narrow corridors of the vessel, which is almost completely intact and lying on its side on the seabed 164ft (50m) below the surface.
The wreck is so deep that divers can only spend 10 minutes on the seabed before having to return to the surface for their own safety.
The superyacht (pictured) was docked off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when it was hit by an over-sea tornado, known as a waterspout
Rescue personnel and divers operate on the water above the shipwrecked superyacht today
A fire service helicopter flies in the air above Porticello today as the search operation takes place
Today a new team of Italian firefighters, who have special tanks that allow them to stay underwater for longer and more experience at that depth, arrived to help with the search.
Divers had forced their way into the ship by drilling a hole through a 3cm-thick porthole today, with claims they had reached the ‘master cabin’ where Mr Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares had been staying during the trip.
Italian outlet Giornale Di Sicilia reported that a remote-controlled robot has been brought in to assist the search teams.
The ‘robot’ is capable of operating on the seabed up to an altitude of 300 meters and can continue for between 6 and 7 hours.
The device equipped with advanced technology that allows it to investigate the seabed and record detailed videos and images which will be used in the prosecutor’s investigation.
It was revealed today that last night the captain of the superyacht, New Zealander James Cutfield, had been ‘questioned for more than two hours’ by Italian prosecutors.
The ‘well respected’ seafarer was quizzed by the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of their investigation into what happened. It is expected they will also speak to the other passengers and crew members as part of their probe.
Speaking in hospital the morning after the incident, Mr Cutfield told Italian journalists ‘we didn’t see it coming’.
Part of the investigation will look into whether hatches had been left open by crew and whether these caused the boat to sink in a matter of minutes.
The captain’s brother, Mark Cutfield, said he was a ‘very good sailor’ and was ‘very well respected’ in the Mediterranean. He told the NZ Herald that James is currently in hospital but is ‘okay’ and does not have injuries that are ‘too dramatic’.
