Category Archives: Italy

Two more crew members from Mike Lynch yacht under investigation

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Italian prosecutors said to be investigating engineer and sailor as well as captain over sinking in which seven died

Italian prosecutors are investigating two more crew members from the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s yacht, along with its captain, in connection with the vessel’s sinking more than a week ago, a judicial source has said.

Lynch and six other people were killed when the British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre (184ft) yacht, capsized and sank off the coast of Porticello, a fishing village near Palermo in Sicily, in the early hours of 19 August, within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm.

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Captain of Mike Lynch’s yacht under investigation for manslaughter

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James Cutfield is asked to appoint a lawyer after prosecutors question him a second time over sinking of Bayesian

The captain of a luxury yacht which sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily last week, killing the British tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, has been placed under investigation for charges of manslaughter and shipwreck.

The 56-metre (184ft) superyacht Bayesian, carrying 22 passengers, sank off the coast of Porticello, a fishing village near Palermo, in the early hours of 19 August. It is thought that it was struck by a downburst, a gusty wind associated with storms.

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Mike Lynch’s court-appointed guard praises tycoon’s ‘loving and caring heart’

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Protection agent says it was impossible to keep a professional distance from ‘genuine and loving’ family

The armed guard assigned to Mike Lynch while he faced fraud charges has described how close he became to the “loving” tech entrepreneur and his family.

Appointed by the court, Rolo Igno, said he was supposed to stay distant but that the professional relationship “quickly dissolved” when Lynch invited him to spend time with his family.

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Sicily yacht sinking: manslaughter investigation opened

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Public prosecutor launches inquiry into deaths of seven people in sinking off coast of Italian island

A manslaughter investigation has been opened into the deaths of seven people, including the British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, in the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, an Italian prosecutor has said.

Ambrogio Cartosio, the public prosecutor of Termini Imerese, said in a press conference at the town’s court on Saturday that his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter, according to a translation.

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‘She was easy to love’: friends and family pay tribute to Hannah Lynch

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Daughter, 18, of tech tycoon Mike Lynch was one of seven people to die when the Bayesian sank off Sicily

The 18-year-old daughter of the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, whose body was recovered on Friday from the wreck of her father’s yacht, was “fiercely intelligent and genuinely kind” and had a promising future, friends and teachers have said.

Hannah Lynch was described as “one of the best English students in the country”. She was one of seven people, including her father, who died after his yacht Bayesian sank during a storm off the coast of Sicily on Monday.

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Manslaughter charges considered as final body recovered from Sicily yacht

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Coastguard confirms body of Hannah Lynch, 18, found after four-day search, bringing number of dead to seven

Prosecutors in Italy are investigating potential manslaughter charges relating to the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian as the body of Mike Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was recovered.

The Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily early on Monday morning when the area was hit by violent storms. Seven people died, including the British tech entrepreneur Lynch.

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Mike Lynch confirmed dead after yacht sank off Sicily coast during storm

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Tech tycoon, 59, was among six people missing since early hours of Monday morning when Bayesian yacht capsized

The British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been confirmed dead by search and rescue authorities after his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, according to officials.

Lynch, 59, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was among six people missing after the British-flagged 56-metre sailing boat Bayesian capsized at about 5am local time on Monday off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado.

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Mike Lynch yacht: body of British tech entrepreneur retrieved by Italian coastguard, reports say – as it happened

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Tech tycoon’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still unaccounted for, reports say. This live blog is closed

Assostampa, one of the main unions of Italian journalists, has issued a press release accusing the authorities of hindering the work of reporters on the Bayesian incident in Porticello.

According to the union, the “silence of the authorities is making the work of the press difficult, forcing them to carry out a complex and challenging task in order to verify the news”.

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Sicily yacht wreck divers find bodies of five missing people

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Identities not disclosed but UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter were among those onboard

Divers scouring the wreck of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday have found the bodies of five of the six missing passengers.

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

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Italian investigators trying to establish why Bayesian superyacht sank so quickly

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Bodies of missing people recovered as witnesses and experts ponder fate of ship hit by localised storm off Sicily

Fishers in the Sicilian village of Porticello who witnessed the Bayesian superyacht sink rapidly in a violent storm on Monday say that the vessel was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But for Italian prosecutors investigating the incident, their focus will be on whether the captain and crew took all the necessary safety measures to prevent the tragedy.

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Sicily yacht sinking: five bodies reportedly found; two identified – as it happened

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English banker Jonathan Bloomer and American lawyer Chris Morvillo reportedly confirmed as among bodies recovered by Italian rescuers

Reuters, citing a source, reports that one of the two bodies found by divers is a “heavily built man.”

Italian rescue divers have found two bodies inside the sunken luxury yacht, Reuters reported citing a source.

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Bayesian yacht sinking: six presumed dead as divers try to access cabins

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UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and daughter among those thought to have been trapped when storm hit off Sicily

Six people are now presumed dead after the super yacht they were onboard sank in a violent storm off the coast of Sicily.

Divers tried in vain on Tuesday to gain access to the inside of the sunken 56-metre Bayesian luxury vessel, where rescue crews believe those missing may have been trapped.

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Climate crisis fuelled storm that sank yacht in Sicily, say experts

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Record sea temperatures in the Mediterranean contributed to waterspout that hit Bayesian

Record temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea this summer contributed to the freak storm that sank a superyacht off the coast of Sicily, with similar extreme events expected to increase in frequency and intensity as the climate crisis tightens its grip, Italian scientists have said.

One person is confirmed to have died and rescuers are searching for six missing people, including the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, after the 56-metre Bayesian capsized in the early hours of Monday.

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Who are the six people missing after Sicily yacht sinking?

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What we know about four Britons and two Americans still unaccounted for after boat sank during storm

Fears are growing for six people who are missing after a superyacht, the Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily when it was hit by a tornadic waterspout during a storm on Monday morning.

On Monday the body of one man, the yacht’s chef, was recovered from the water. There were 15 survivors. A rescue mission is under way to search for six others who remain unaccounted for. The four Britons and two Americans have all been named. Here is what we know about them.

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Sicily yacht sinking: body found confirmed to be chef Recaldo Thomas as missing passengers feared dead – as it happened

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Thomas was one of ten crew members onboard Bayesian yacht, says Italian coastguard, as passengers including tech tycoon Mike Lynch remain missing

Lorenzo Tondo reporting from Porticello

Fabio Cefalù, 36, a fisher from Porticello, was one of the first to attempt providing assistance to the Bayesian.

We went to see what had happened. We only saw the floating debris of the boat. We immediately called the Coast Guard.

The sea was terrible. The wind very strong. The storm destroyed my solar panels. The vessel was hit head-on. I thought I would find someone in the sea. But nothing. The boat had disappeared from the radar.

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Sicily yacht sinking: Morgan Stanley International chair Jonathan Bloomer among missing

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UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and daughter also among six unaccounted for after superyacht was hit by tornado and sank

Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer is among those missing after a yacht carrying UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, an Italian official has said.

Salvatore Cocina, head of the civil protection agency in Sicily, said Bloomer and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance, were among the six people missing. Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, were also unaccounted for as of late Monday.

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‘We didn’t see it coming’: the tumultuous Sicilian night that took down the Bayesian

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Witnesses tell of ‘absurd tragedy’ and a mother describes how she fought to save her child from drowning

The 12 holidaying passengers had come from the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland, occupying six luxurious suites of Bayesian, a 56-metre-long superyacht boasting the tallest aluminium mast in the world. Among the 10 crew members were people from Sri Lanka.

The award-winning, British-flagged vessel, which was built in 2008 by the Italian shipbuilder Perini and managed by Camper & Nicholsons, left the calm blue waters of the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August, sailing for a few days around the Aeolian Islands and off the historic coastal village of Cefalù.

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UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch among missing in Sicily yacht sinking

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One man dead and six people missing including Lynch and his daughter after superyacht carrying 22 sank in storm

The British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm.

The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre sailboat, was carrying 22 people and was anchored just off shore near the port of Porticello when it was hit by a tornado in the early hours, the Italian coastguard said in a statement.

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‘It’s a proper jungle’: Rome’s rat and snake infestation blamed on waste problems

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Pest control expert says warmer winters help creatures such as oriental hornets, snakes and rats thrive in the city

A Rome zoologist says the Italian capital has become “a proper jungle” amid a surge in the presence of snakes, oriental hornets, seagulls and rats owing to a combination of high temperatures and the city’s persistent problem with rubbish.

Andrea Lunerti, who is well known in Rome for capturing dangerous animals, said he had been inundated with calls this summer, especially about snake sightings.

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Hunter Biden sought US government help for Ukrainian company Burisma

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Biden wrote to then US ambassador to Rome on behalf of the energy firm while his father was vice-president

Hunter Biden lobbied the US government for help in securing a lucrative energy contract in Italy while his father Joe Biden was vice-president, newly released documents show.

A tranche of previously undisclosed documents now made public under a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) request reveals that the president’s son wrote to the then US ambassador to Rome, John Phillips, in 2016 seeking assistance on behalf of the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, of which he was a board member.

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