Divers find 2 bodies during search of superyacht wreckage after it sank off Sicily, 4 more remain
Source: Associated Press
Divers find 2 bodies during search of superyacht wreckage after it sank off Sicily, 4 more remain
By NICOLE WINFIELD, DANICA KIRKA and ANDREA ROSA
Updated 11:06 AM EDT, August 21, 2024
PORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — Divers searching the wreck of a superyacht that sank off Sicily found two bodies Wednesday, as the search continued for four more missing passengers and questions intensified about why the vessel sank so quickly.
Divers and rescue crews unloaded one body bag from one of the rescue vessels that pulled into port at Porticello. Salvatore Cocina, head of the Sicily civil protection agency, said a second corpse had also been found Wednesday.
The discovery indicated that the operation to search the wreckage on the seabed 50 meters (164 feet) underwater was a recovery one, not a rescue, given the amount of time that had passed and no signs of life had emerged over three days of searching, maritime experts said.
The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged yacht, went down in a storm early Monday as it was moored about a kilometer (a half-mile) offshore. Civil protection officials said they believed the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.
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Divers were photographed bringing body bags ashore.
Italian divers bring the body of one of the victims of the Bayesian ashore Aug. 21. The sailing yacht was hit by a sudden storm and sank early Monday while at anchor off the Sicilian village of Porticello near Palermo, in southern Italy. (Salvatore Cavalli/AP)
By Leo Sands, Adam Taylor and Stefano Pitrelli
August 21, 2024 at 11:43 a.m. EDT
Divers have found four bodies so far in the sunken wreckage of a superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily this week, Italian officials told news agencies and local media Wednesday.
Salvatore Cocina, head of the Sicily civil protection agency, confirmed the discovery of the bodies to the Associated Press after divers were photographed by the agency bringing body bags ashore. Cocina did not identify the deceased.
The British-flagged, 183-foot-long Bayesian was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew members roughly half a mile from the Sicilian fishing village of Porticello when it encountered what authorities called a “violent storm” at about 4 a.m. Monday.
Of the 15 people rescued, eight — including a 1-year-old girl — were taken to hospitals in conditions that were not life-threatening. The body of the yacht’s chef, identified as Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian Antiguan, was found during initial recovery efforts.
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By Leo Sands
Leo Sands is a breaking-news reporter and editor in The Washington Post’s London Hub, covering news as it unfolds around the world. Twitter
By Adam Taylor
Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University. Twitter
By Stefano Pitrelli
Stefano Pitrelli is a reporter in the Rome bureau for The Washington Post. Twitter