Luxury yacht sinks off Sicily in storm; 1 dead and 6 missing

At least one man was killed and six people are missing after a luxury yacht sank near the Sicilian capital of Palermo during a violent storm.

A British tech magnate and several other people are missing after a luxury superyacht sank near Sicily’s main city, Palermo, during a violent storm, Italian officials and sources familiar with the matter told CNBC. At least one person was killed.

Mike Lynch, who was regularly described in U.K. media as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” was not among those rescued, said the sources, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation. They added that Angela Bacares, Lynch’s wife, had been plucked from the waters off the Italian island.

Lynch was among six people who were unaccounted for, The Associated Press quoted Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency as saying. “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. Cocina also confirmed that Bacares had survived.

Italy's coast guard said in a statement that the 184-foot sailboat, named the Bayesian, sank “due to a violent storm” off Palermo at around 5 a.m. local time (11 p.m. ET) with 22 people on board. Fifteen people were rescued, and six passengers were missing, it said.

American, British and Canadian citizens were among the missing, the statement said. The coast guard said in later statement that the ship’s cook had died. It did not give the cook's nationality.  

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/luxury-yacht-sinks-sicily-storm-rcna167117

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