Divers find 2 bodies during search of superyacht wreckage after it sank off Sicily, 4 more remain

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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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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/italy-missing-boaters-mike-lynch-cb3a667f240fba758198164678eaf01b