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The body believed to be that of Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, has been recovered from the wreck of the Bayesian superyacht that sank off Sicily this week, an Italian coast guard official said on Friday.
A CNN team on the ground saw divers carry the final body bag from a rescue boat onto the harbour of Porticello, bringing to an end a five-day search by Italian authorities for the victims of the shipwreck.
With the wreck located nearly 50 metres underwater, divers have had only around 12 minutes to reach the site and explore its cabins before having to resurface, complicating their efforts to bring all seven bodies to shore.
After retrieving six bodies from the wreck over the past four days, Lynch’s was the final body being searched for by Italian authorities.
The body of her father, Mike Lynch, was retrieved and identified on Thursday, an Italian interior ministry official told Reuters.
The British-flagged vessel, with 22 passengers and crew members on board, sank on Monday after its mast, one of the world’s tallest, broke in half during a violent storm.
Fifteen people were rescued on Monday and one body was recovered – thought to be that on the onboard chef Recaldo Thomas.
Six others were initially reported missing: Lynch and his daughter; Morgan Stanley International director Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy Bloomer; and prominent American lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
After Hannah Lynch’s body was recovered, a spokesperson for the Lynch family said they are “devastated, in shock and is being comforted and supported by family and friends”.
“Their thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy. They would like to sincerely thank the Italian coastguard, emergency services and all those who helped in the rescue. Their one request now is that their privacy be respected at this time of unspeakable grief,” the spokesperson said.
Hannah Lynch was set to start studying English literature at the University of Oxford in the fall, her teacher said in a series of touching tributes shared with CNN after her body was recovered.
“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,” said Jon Mitropoulos-Monk, Head of English at Latymer Upper School in London, who taught Lynch for four years.
Katya Lewis, Lynch’s friend, said: “The love Hannah had for everything she held dear was passionate and pure. She had a warm and beautiful soul. Being with Hannah made me feel whole and happy. She is the most special friend anyone could ask for and I will always love Hannah.”
Lynch’s mother, Angela Bacares, survived the shipwreck and has received treatment at a Sicilian hospital.
Searching for answers
Five days on, Italian authorities are still working to understand how the 56-metre yacht sank so quickly.
Unverified security camera footage released on Wednesday appeared to show the moment that a waterspout – a type of tornado that spun over Sicily early on Monday – sank the vessel.
One witness, the owner of a nearby villa looked out to where the Bayesian was anchored, later watched back his CCTV footage that captured the yacht sinking.
“In just 60 seconds, you can see the ship disappear,” he told Italian outlet ANSA.
“You can see clearly what’s happening. There was nothing that could be done for the vessel. It disappeared in a very short time.”
The CEO of the firm that owns the vessel’s manufacturer has, however, detailed a string of avoidable “mistakes” he said may have contributed to the ship sinking.
With bad weather forecast, the ship’s crew should have locked down the hull, closed all the doors and hatches and made the guests group together in the ship’s assembly point, Giovanni Constantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
