The body of the sixth and final person missing from the sinking of Mike Lynch’s luxury yacht, believed to be Hannah Lynch, 18, is brought ashore Friday after being recovered by divers from the wreck at the bottom of the sea off Sicily, the Italian coast guard said. Photo by Igor Petyx/EPA-EFE
Aug. 23 (UPI) — The remains of the sixth and final person missing from the sinking of Mike Lynch’s luxury yacht was recovered by divers Friday from the wreck at the bottom of the sea off Sicily, the Italian coast guard said.
The body is believed to be that of Hannah Lynch, the British tech billionaire’s 18-year-old daughter, as she was the only person who remained unaccounted for, bringing the total number of people killed in the tragedy to seven.
A green body bag was seen being brought ashore from the wreck site about a half mile off Porticello, a fishing village on the northern coast of Sicily.
A family friend said Hannah Lynch’s loss was “unbearable” while her former school in West London said everyone there was upset.
“We are all incredibly shocked by the news,” a spokesperson for Latymer Upper School told the BBC.
Lynch, 59, who was pulled from the wreck dead on Thursday, is survived by his wife, Angela Bacares, who managed to escape when the 184-foot-long Bayesian went down in a freak storm in the early hours of Monday, and another daughter who was not on board.
The other five people confirmed to have been killed are Lynch’s American lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo; Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy — whose bodies were all recovered from the wreck Wednesday — and chef, Recaldo Thomas whose body was pulled from the water in the hours after the sinking.
Bacares and 14 other guests, including a 1-year-old girl, managed to escape aboard a life-raft and were later rescued by other vessels nearby.
Tributes to Hannah Lynch from friends and teachers described her as a “ferociously intelligent, loving young woman” who was due to begin studying at Oxford University in October.
“Hannah was charming and ferociously intelligent with an insatiable thirst for life and knowledge. She was also warm, loving and deeply considerate; remarkably for her age. I am 50 years older than her and in my life I have never met anybody like Hannah,” family friend Patrick Jacob told The Independent.
“We have lost one of our brightest stars whose future held so much promise. Her loss is unbearable.”
Hannah Lynch’s school remembered her as a compassionate, warm and committed student whose academic ability was “sky high.”
Jon Mitropoulos-Monk, head of English at Latymer Upper School, said she was “one of the best English students in the country”, having scored 100% in her English Literature GCSE.
“I’ve never taught someone who combined sky-high intellectual ability with warmth and enthusiasm in the way Hannah did. She lit up the classroom with her energy, passion for learning and sheer intelligence (though never with a hint of arrogance),” Mitropoulos-Monk said.
He added that Hanna Lynch, loved “literature, learning and life” and was excited to begin her studies at Oxford “a goal she had worked so hard towards.”
“When she got her place, she sought out every single member of the Latymer Upper English Department to thank them individually and give them a hug!” Mitropoulos-Monk said.
Attention turned to the $39 million sailboat said to be lying “practically intact” 164 feet down on the seabed as an Italian coast guard vessel, which had been at the wreck site from first light, was back in Porticello and divers on the quayside stood down.
Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation with a focus on how the yacht, which was built 650 miles away in La Spezia, sank within five minutes after being hit by a tornado-like waterspout while other smaller vessels remained afloat and whether windows and watertight hatches had been left open.
Investigators from Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch are also involved as the vessel was British flagged.
However, a spokesman for the coast guard said the question of whether to mount a salvage operation to recover the Bayesian was currently “not on the agenda,” but would be addressed at a later date.