These Are The Six People Missing After Superyacht Sinks Off Italian Coast

Search efforts continued Tuesday for six people after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily during what reportedly was a celebratory cruise for British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch after he was acquitted of fraud and conspiracy charges in the U.S.

The U.K.-flagged Bayesian was moored off the coast of Porticello with 22 people on board when it’s believed to have beenstruck by a small tornado called a waterspout around 4 a.m. Monday, Italian authorities have said.

The luxury vessel quickly capsized and sank about 164 feet into the depths (roughly the equivalent of a 15-story building). Everyone missing is believed to be dead, a spokesperson for the Italian Coast Guard told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

“It would be reasonable to think that we are more likely to find the missing people inside the boat,” Vincenzo Zagarola told the outlet.

The body of the on-board chef was recovered Monday, while those missing are believed to be trapped in the ship’s below-deck cabins since the storm struck while most people were sleeping. Dive teams have so far been unable to access these rooms because of furniture that shifted during the storm, blocking access, authorities said.

Those missing include Lynch’s U.S. attorney and a banking chairman who testified in his defense during the trial, which concluded in June. Survivors have said that the cruise had been organized by Lynch for his work colleagues, according to Reuters. Reid Weingarten, who also worked on Lynch’s legal team but wasn’t on the yacht, confirmed to The Associated Press that the outing was a celebration of the acquittal.

Here’s what we know about those missing.

Mike Lynch

Lynch, 59, is the former chief executive of software company Autonomy, which was sold to Hewlett Packard