Divers find five bodies in search of Sicily yacht

Divers scouring the wreck of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning have found the bodies of five of the six missing people who were onboard.

- Jamie Grierson, Lorenzo Tondol

The UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah; the Morgan Stanley International chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Judy; and the Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, have been missing since the vessel went down.

The 56-metre yacht, named Bayesian and sailing under a British flag, was carrying 22 people and had anchored just offshore near the port of Porticello when it was hit by what was believed to be a tornado or waterspout. The body of the yacht's chef, Recaldo Thomas, was located shortly after the vessel sank.

During the afternoon yesterday rescue authorities found the bodies of five missing people.

The director general of Sicily's civil protection agency, Salvo Cocina, confirmed that four bodies had been recovered by divers, with the fifth having been found but not yet brought back to shore. Cocina said: "On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and express our condolences to them at this difficult time".