FOUR victims of the Bayesian superyacht tragedy survived the initial sinking but later died in air bubbles inside the wreckage, their autopsies have revealed.
The £14 million ship was caught in a storm off the coast of northern Sicily on August 19, capsized and sank to the seabed in just minutes.
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Jonathan and Judy Bloomer died in the sinking of the luxury yacht Bayesian off the coast of SicilyCredit: PA
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Chris and Neda Morvillo also lost their lives Credit: Getty
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The £14m superyacht Bayesian – which sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19 Credit: EPA
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Billionaire Mike Lynch with his daughter Hannah – both died on the yacht
Autopsies have been carried out on Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, Chris Morvill and his wife Neda – four of the seven people who died when the yacht sank.
British billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, as well as yacht chef Recaldo Thomas, also died, and their autopsies will be performed tomorrow.
Autopsies suggest that both couples died after the oxygen in the air bubbles below deck ran out, as reported by Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Previous reports suggested that Chris and Neda – whose autopsies were carried out first – had both died by drowning.
Divers recovered five of the six missing passengers – including Lynch – in a cabin on the port side of the yacht, which sank to starboard on the sea floor.
The judicial investigation into the yacht tragedy is ongoing.
The luxury ship was caught in a terrible storm, which caused it to sink in the early hours of the morning.
Of the 22 on board, 15 survived and 11, including Mike Lynch’s wife, were rescued in an inflatable life raft.
The captain of the convicted Bayesian, James Cutfield, 51, is being investigated for manslaughter.
Kiwi Cutfield, along with two other members of his crew, are under investigation by Italian authorities for the shipwreck and multiple murder.
Prosecutors are also investigating ship’s engineer Tim Parker-Eaton, from Clophill, Beds, and seaman Matthew Griffith, 22, on the same charges.
The investigation does not imply guilt or mean that any of the men will be formally charged.
At a press conference at the Termini Imerese courthouse on Saturday, chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said there may have been “behaviour that was not perfectly fine given the responsibility that everyone had”.
His team will investigate whether vents are left open, allowing water to enter.
They will also check if the crew raised the alarm before escaping.
He promised that he would “find out how much they knew and to what extent all people (passengers) were warned”.
Mr Cartosio added: “It could actually be murder. But this is the beginning of the investigation, we cannot rule anything out… We will determine the responsibility of each element (crew).
“To me, it’s likely that crimes were committed – that it could be manslaughter.”
The body of Mike Lynch and his four guests, Chris, Neda, Jonathan and Judy, were found in the first cabin on the left.
Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was the last passenger to be discovered in the third cabin.
Survivors of the crash, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, 57, left Sicily on a private jet last Sunday.
In Bayesian’s last 16 minutes
Ellie Doughty, foreign news reporter
Data collected from the Bayesian Automatic Identification System (AIS) reveals exactly how it sank in a painful minute-by-minute timeline.
At 3.50am on Monday 19 August, the Bayesian began shaking “dangerously” during a violent storm, Italian newspaper Corriere revealed.
Just minutes later, at 3.59am, the ship’s anchor gave way, and the source said data showed there was “no more anchor to hold”.
After the storm ripped out the ship’s mooring, it was dragged through the water for about 358 meters.
By 4 a.m., he began taking on water and blacked out, indicating that the waves had reached his generator or even the engine room.
At 4.05am Bayesian had completely disappeared under the waves.
An emergency GPS signal was finally sent at 4.06am to the coast guard station in Bari, a nearby town, alerting them that the ship had sunk.
Initial reports suggest the disaster occurred at around 5am local time off the coast of the port of Porticello in Palermo, Sicily.
New data pulled from the ship’s AIS appears to suggest it happened an hour earlier, around 4am.
About 15 of the 22 on board were rescued, 11 of whom boarded an inflatable life raft that popped up on deck.
A smaller nearby boat – named the Sir Robert Baden Powell – then helped take these men to shore.
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Chef Recaldo Thomas’ body was first found Credit: Enterprise
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James Cutfield, 51, Captain of the Bayesian
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