Initial examinations have revealed that four of the people killed in the Sicily yacht tragedy died of suffocation. British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, the onboard cook and four guests on the British flagged 56m-long super yacht lost their lives as the vessel was hit by a raging storm.
A report by Reuters citing judicial sources said on Thursday (Sep 5) that four of the victims—Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda—died of suffocation as the ship ran out of oxygen.
The results of more forensic tests are awaited and more details are expected in the coming weeks. Examinations of the dead bodies of Mike Lynch and his daughter were expected to begin later on Thursday.
It is to be noted that all dead bodies, except one, were found in the cabins on the left-hand side of the boat as they must have hunted for remaining air.
Italian authorities have already placed James Cutfield, the ship captain; and crew members Tim Parker Eaton and Matthew Griffiths for potential manslaughter in the aftermath of the sinking tragedy. However, being investigated doesn’t mean that they will be formally indicted.
Griffiths is understood to have told the investigators that the crew did everything they could do to save the vessel but to no avail.
All in all, the tragedy continues to puzzle the experts as they believe that the yacht was designed to withstand such heavy storms. The vessel built by Perini, a high-end yacht manufacturer owned by The Italian Sea Group should not have sunk as quickly as it did, as per reports.
Earlier, Giovanni Costantino, the CEO of the yacht manufacturer company, pinned the blame for the tragedy on “indescribable, unreasonable errors” by the crew.
“The boat suffered a series of indescribable, unreasonable errors, the impossible happened on that boat … but it went down because it took on water. From where, the investigators will tell,” he said in an interview.
(With inputs from agencies)