The superyacht of billionaire businessman Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter drowned off the coast of Sicily, and they were discovered dead. Investigations are still ongoing into the incident’s circumstances.
For British IT entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his family, what was meant to be a victorious sail into the sunset tragically changed into a terrible tragedy.
Search teams discovered the terrible object amid the wreckage of Lynch’s opulent superyacht, Bayesian, on August 21. Off the coast of Sicily, the ship capsized due to a rare and powerful “black swan” waterspout.
What was supposed to be a “victory trip” turned into an unfathomable loss when the Chief of Civil Protection reported that Lynch, also referred to as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among the four bodies discovered. On the submerged superyacht, Lynch and his daughter were discovered nestled between mattresses.
The 59-year-old businessman was not the only one who perished in the sea because he had just recently celebrated winning his US fraud trial over the $10.9 billion (£8.3 billion) sale of his IT company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard.
The identities of the two other bodies, a male and a woman, that were found in the master bedroom are still unknown. To make matters worse, a fifth corpse is still stuck in the submerged grave of the formerly magnificent ship.
Authorities are battling against time to find U.S. couple Chris and Neda Morvillo, as well as senior executive Jonathan Bloomer of Morgan Stanley and his wife Judy. The recovery of Recaldo Thomas, the chef at Bayesian, earlier on Monday added to the layers of this ongoing nautical tragedy.
Jim Dale, a meteorologist and former Royal Navy forecaster, explained how the waterspout affected Lynch’s vessel. Given the abundance of waterspouts in the vicinity, he claimed that the episode had “anaemology written all over it”.
Reports on the day of the incident revealed that there were approximately 19 waterspouts in the area, which made the situation extremely perilous. Dale thinks the captain of the yacht probably acted cautiously after getting weather alerts.
But it’s possible that they unintentionally put themselves in more danger by anchoring the ship at sea rather than in port. Additionally, he hypothesized that some survivors may have avoided the worst of the storm because they had received earlier warning signs.
The marine disaster has shocked people all around the world, causing a lot of conjecture and generating questions about the incident’s actual nature. Social media is ablaze with hypotheses and opinions, leading many to suspect that there may be more to the story than first appears.
One person boldly claimed that the tragedy was nothing short of “murder,” while another questioned the suspicious timing. The person wrote, “The sinking of Mike Lynch’s yacht has raised serious suspicions—especially given his company’s pivotal role in the 9/11 investigations. Now, his body has been discovered. Was it a tragic accident, or something far more sinister? What do you think?”
Adding to the swirling mystery, someone else pointed out, “Just so I’m clear. Everyone associated with Mike Lynch is currently winding up dead in mysterious circumstances?” The internet is ablaze with questions, leaving many to wonder if this was truly an unfortunate accident —or if darker forces were at play.
A few days earlier, Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, gave her story of what transpired on the day the Bayesian superyacht sank. She was still shaken up and recovering from the catastrophic tragedy. She revealed the heartbreaking information at the time while waiting for word on her husband’s and their 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch’s location.
After having to walk on shattered glass to escape the sinking $18 million (£14 million) boat, Bacares—who now uses a wheelchair—recounted how she and Lynch were awakened by an uncomfortable shift aboard.
She told La Repubblica (an Italian news outlet) that they were stirred awake at 4 am on Monday, August 19, after she felt a “slight tilt” right before chaos ensued.
At first, Lynch and Bacares felt neither dread nor concern. However, when she awoke from her sleep to take a look around, the sound of breaking glass startled her and quickly changed.
The superyacht fell about 160 feet off the coast of Sicily after the mast collapsed, almost an hour after Bacares and Lynch had woken up (5 am local time).
Speaking to another outlet, Bacares recounted how “everything was falling” around her. Adding to the intense fear she felt at that moment is the fact that she said she was nearly “carried away“ before she managed to make it out to safety.
Another source claims that after her near escape, a group of psychiatrists from the Palermo Health Authority and civil protection have been helping Bacares and the other survivors of the yacht catastrophe.
Additionally, lodging has been provided for the survivors at the Domina Zagarella Hotel. After obtaining medical care at a hospital in Termini Imerese, Bacares was moved to the hotel.
