Italian rescuers on Friday recovered the final missing victim from the wreckage of a superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19.
The body of Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of the British billionaire Mike Lynch, was located on Friday, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
The Bayesian, a luxury 184-foot sailing yacht was carrying Lynch, his daughter and 20 other people when it was struck by a powerful waterspout, a tornado-like phenomenon associated with severe thunderstorms, in the early hours of Monday.
Officials say the British-flagged vessel went down off the northern coast of Sicily in a matter of minutes, sinking to a depth of more than 160 feet.
The body of the ship’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered just hours after the sinking, while 15 people were rescued by a nearby sailboat.
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The remaining six victims were declared missing, sparking a massive rescue and recovery operation.
Divers and search crews scoured the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea for the past five days.
On Thursday, the recovered bodies of five victims were officially identified by Italian authorities: They were New York City-based lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo; Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer; and 59-year-old Mike Lynch, who was reportedly celebrating his acquittal on fraud charges at a trial in the US.
The body of the billionaire’s teenage daughter was pulled from the wreckage.
The recovery of her body happened on Friday just before 1 p.m., local time, according to local reports.
Later on Friday, a spokesperson for the Lynch family thanked the Italian Coast Guard and those who assisted in the rescue while requesting privacy “in this time of unspeakable grief.”
“The family is devastated, in shock and is being comforted and supported by family and friends. Their thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy,” the statement said in part, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News (TNS)
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