Italian prosecutor opens manslaughter inquiry in Lynch yacht sinking (updated)
24/08/2024 10:48
(Updates with more detail throughout)
TERMINI IMERESE, Italy, Aug 24 (Reuters) - An Italian
prosecutor has opened a manslaughter investigation into the
deaths of British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six other people
who were killed when a luxury yacht sank off Sicily this week.
The head of the public prosecutor's office of Termini
Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, announced the investigation at a
news conference, saying the probe was so far not aimed at any
individual person.
Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was also among those
who died when the family's 56-metre-long (184-foot) boat, the
Bayesian, capsized during a fierce, pre-dawn storm on Monday off
Porticello, near Palermo.
Fifteen people survived, including Lynch's wife, whose
company owned the Bayesian, and the yacht's captain.
The captain James Cutfield and the other survivors have been
questioned this week by authorities. None of them have commented
publicly on how the ship went down.
Raffaele Cammarano, another prosecutor speaking at the same
news conference, said that when authorities questioned Cutfield
he had been "extremely cooperative".
Pulling the Bayesian out of the sea may help investigators
determine what happened, but the operation is likely to be
complex and costly. The wreck is lying apparently intact on its
side at a depth of 50 metres (164 feet).
"It's in the interests of the owners and managers of the
ship to salvage it," Cartosio said, adding "they have assured
their full cooperation".
He said there was no legal obligation for the captain, crew
and passengers to remain in Italy but authorities expected them
to cooperate with the probe.
The sinking has puzzled naval marine experts who say a boat
like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer
Perini, should have withstood the storm and in any case should
not have sunk as quickly as it did.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group
TISGR.MI , which owns Perini, told Reuters this week the
shipwreck was the result of a string of "indescribable,
unreasonable errors" made by the crew, and ruled out any design
or construction failings.
SCOURING FOR BODIES
Cammarano said that the passengers were all probably asleep
at the time of the storm which was why they failed to escape.
Divers scoured the submerged vessel all week to recover
bodies, with Hannah Lynch's the last to be recovered on Friday.
The five other dead passengers were recovered on Wednesday and
Thursday, while the body of the only crew member who died,
onboard chef Recaldo Thomas, was found on Monday.
Mike Lynch, 59, was one of the UK's best-known tech
entrepreneurs and had invited friends to join him on the yacht
to celebrate his acquittal in June in a U.S. fraud trial.
Among those who also died in the wreck were Lynch's lawyer
Chris Morvillo and Jonathan Bloomer, a Morgan Stanley banker who
had appeared as a character witness in the case on his behalf.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari
Writing by Frances Kerry
Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
((frances.kerry@thomsonreuters.com))