Italian authorities investigating the deaths of seven people in the sinking of a luxury yacht in Sicily say they are looking into potential crimes of “shipwreck and manslaughter”.
Ambrogio Cartosio, chief prosecutor of the nearby town of Termini Imerese, stressed however the investigation was in its initial stages and they were not currently looking at anyone specifically.
UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among those who died when the Bayesian went down off the coast of Porticello during a storm in the early hours of Monday morning.
It was previously believed the vessel may have sunk because of a waterspout, but the Italian Air Force has now confirmed the most likely cause was a localised, powerful wind known as a downburst.
The bodies of Jonathan Bloomer, a Morgan Stanley International bank chairman, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo were also recovered from the wreckage some 50m (164 ft) down after days of deep dive searches.
The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the superyacht, was recovered at the scene on Monday.
The remaining 15 people who were on board the luxury yacht were rescued.
In a press conference on Saturday morning, Mr Cartosio said the coastguard was called at 04:38 local time on Monday but the yacht had already sunk by the time crews had arrived.
Mr Cartosio told journalists he thought it was “probable that offences were committed” surrounding the sinking of the yacht.
He said the sinking could have been the responsibility of the captain, crew, individuals in charge of supervision, the ship-builder, or others.
“We will establish each element’s responsibility – that will be done by the inquiry, so we can’t do that prematurely,” he said.
“For me, it is probable that offences were committed – that it could be a case of manslaughter – but we can only establish that if you give us the time to investigate.”
He said it was plausible the crimes of culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter may have been committed, but the prosecutor’s office was not currently investigating anyone specifically who may have been potentially responsible, which would be needed to bring charges.
Deputy Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano told journalists the Italian Air Force had confirmed the sinking was most likely caused by a downburst.
A downburst is a localised, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm, spreading out rapidly upon hitting the ground.
Speaking on behalf of the divers, a Palermo fire brigade commander said about 70 people were involved in an “intense” search operation each day, with more than 120 dives undertaken in total.
“We were operating at 50 metres (164 ft) depth and that there was very little visibility due to the weather conditions,” he said.
