October 14, 2024

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Yacht sinks live on air: Manslaughter probe launched into seven deaths including tech billionaire Mike Lynch

Yacht sinks live on air: Manslaughter probe launched into seven deaths including tech billionaire Mike Lynch

Mike Lynch’s friend mourns ‘incredibly tragic’ death after fraud trial acquittal

An Italian prosecutor says a manslaughter investigation has been launched into the deaths of seven people when a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily.

British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among six people rescued after the Bayswater yacht sank near Porticello at around 5am local time on Monday.

The body of Canadian-Antiguan citizen Ricaldo Thomas, who worked as a chef on the luxury yacht, was found at the scene on Monday.

Ambrogio Cartosio, the public prosecutor for the nearby city of Termini Imerese, told a news conference at the city’s courthouse on Saturday that his office had opened a preliminary investigation into manslaughter.

“The Termini Imerese prosecutor’s office has opened a case of shipwreck and manslaughter, but we are still in the initial phase of the investigation,” he said.

“I must stress that the development of the investigation could in fact be of any conceivable kind,” he added.

The main question investigators are focusing on is how a sailing ship deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, the Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailing vessel remained largely unscathed.

The Baysian ship sank in a storm near the Sicilian capital Palermo on Monday during a voyage to celebrate Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a fraud case in the United States.

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No autopsy has been performed yet.

The prosecutor in the case said no information had been obtained so far from examining the seven people who died.

Asked whether post-mortem examinations had been carried out, Raffaele Cammarano told a news conference in Italy: “There are a whole number of preliminary stages that must be passed before the bodies are autopsied.”

The investigation is currently an Italian affair with local participation, but lead prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said: “I cannot assure you with certainty that the investigation will be exclusively Italian.”

“There will be developments, I am sure, in this regard,” he added.

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 11:33

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Key takeaways from the press conference

  • Italian officials have launched an investigation into a shipwreck and manslaughter.
  • Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said he believed “crimes were likely committed” in connection with the sinking of the yacht.
  • Several bodies found on sunken yacht in one cabin ‘that wasn’t theirs’
  • The yacht was hit by a strong thunderstorm. A thunderstorm is a strong wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads quickly once it hits land.
  • The passengers may not have been able to escape the yacht because they were asleep.
(Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 11:20

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The prosecutor says it is “likely” that the crimes were committed.

Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said he believed “crimes were likely committed” in connection with the sinking of the yacht.

He told reporters that the sinking could have been the responsibility of the captain, the crew, the individuals responsible for supervision, the ship’s construction company or others.

He added: “We will determine the responsibility of each element, and this will be done through investigation, so we cannot do this prematurely.

“To me, it is possible that crimes were committed – it may be a case of manslaughter – but we can only prove that if you give us time to investigate.

“The timing of the media is completely different from the timing of the attorney general. We need a minimum of time to reach a sound scientific conclusion.”

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 11:10

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Italian officials are currently unable to say when the first distress signal was sent.

“There may have been a tampering error given the speed of events, meaning the emergency distress signal was not sent correctly or in a timely manner.

“I’m afraid we can’t reconstruct all these details at this time.

“We cannot say exactly when the first distress signal was sent.”

“The ship’s owners will bear the full cost of salvaging the wreck,” he added, without being able to estimate the cost.

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 10:58

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Prosecutors said the passengers were asleep and therefore unable to escape.

Prosecutors said the passengers who died were likely asleep, which is why they failed to escape.

“They were asleep while the others were not,” said Rafael Cammarano, the prosecutor in the case.

He was asked if there was anyone available at that time to alert them.

“This is exactly what we are trying to ascertain through the statements made by the survivors during their interrogation – a key point in the investigation, of course,” Mr Cammarano said.

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 10:29

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We have no idea why five bodies were found in the same cabin, according to the claim.

The prosecutor told reporters that all the bodies on board the sunken yacht were found in one cabin that “did not belong to them.”

“The bodies were found in a cabin that did not belong to them, but that does not give us any kind of certainty about what happened,” prosecutor Rafael Cammarano said, through a translation provided by the BBC.

“We have no idea why they are all in the same cabin.”

(Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 10:26

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Italian officials will inspect safety equipment on sunken yacht.

Rafael Cammarano, the prosecutor in the case, was asked whether there was a black box and whether its ports were left open.

“The first phase of this investigation will certainly focus on confirming the existence of such objects and recovering the bodies.

“We can’t answer that for sure yet.”

He added: “We cannot reveal anything at this stage, but the facts will be confirmed by searching the wreckage later.”

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 10:14

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“Abnormal weather” caused the storm

“This was an abnormal weather situation, and as you can see from the internet, there was a forecast from midnight to 4 a.m., with winds of five degrees from the northwest and west, and a storm warning,” said Admiral Rafael Macuda, commander of the Coast Guard.

“But there was no tornado warning.”

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 10:10

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The diver says there were many “obstacles” to getting to the cabins at Bayzian.

In response to a question from a reporter, a diver who went down to the Bayezian said there were many “obstacles” on the way to finding the bodies in the cabins.

Specialist divers trying to recover the bodies had to contend with “poor visibility due to weather conditions” and were called in from across the country as part of a search and rescue operation involving “about 70 people” each day.

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 10:06

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Prosecutors questioned how most of the crew survived but the tourists did not.

The prosecutor in the case said the incident happened “very suddenly” and the investigation will look into how many crew members survived.

At a press conference, Rafael Cammarano was asked how most of the crew managed to survive.

“We tried to get as much information as possible from the crew or survivors – all I can say is that the accident happened really suddenly,” he said at a news conference, according to an AFP translation.

“The investigation will begin with the facts relating to the shipwreck – that’s all I can say at this moment.”

Jabed AhmedAugust 24, 2024 10:04