Causes of death of two superyacht passengers killed when Mike Lynch’s $27m vessel sank in thunderstorm revealed
The first official autopsy following the sinking of superyacht Bayesian has been revealed, with the cause of death of two passengers determined.
The official causes of death for two victims of the Bayesian superyacht tragedy have been revealed.
The AU$27 million vessel was caught up in a storm off the coast of northern Sicily on August 19, capsizing and sinking to the sea floor in mere minutes.
Autopsies carried out on couple Chris and Neda Morvillo confirmed they both died by drowning, sources said on Monday.
Officials found “no sign” of any other injuries which may have resulted in their deaths.
Autopsies on the remaining seven victims are set to be completed throughout the rest of the week as the judicial investigation into the tragedy continues.
The luxury superyacht was caught up in a horror storm last month which caused it to sink in the early hours of the morning.
Of the 22 on-board, 15 survived but tragically seven died including lawyer Chris and his wife Neda.
Brit billionaire Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah were among those who died along with the yacht chef Recaldo Thomas.
Judy and Jonathon Bloomer also lost their lives.
It comes as the captain of the doomed Bayesian, James Cutfield, 51, is being investigated for manslaughter.
Kiwi Cutfield, along with two other members of his crew, are being investigated by Italian authorities for culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter.
Prosecutors are probing ship engineer Tim Parker-Eaton, from Clophill, Beds, and sailor Matthew Griffith, 22 under the same charges.
The investigation does not imply guilt or mean formal charges will be brought against any of the men.
Investigators are understood to be rifling through CCTV footage and photographs taken by locals on the night of the storm to understand why the boat sank so quickly.
At a press conference at the Termini Imerese Courthouse on Saturday, Chief Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said there may have been “behaviours that were not perfectly in order with regard to the responsibility everybody had.”
His team will probe if hatches were left open, allowing water to flood in.
They will also look into whether the crew raised the alarm before escaping.
He vowed to “discover how much they knew and to what extent all the people (passengers) were warned.”
Mr Cartosio added: “There could be in fact the question of homicide. But this is the beginning of the inquiry, we cannot exclude anything at all … We will establish each element’s (crew) responsibility.
“For me, it is probable that offences were committed — that it could be a case of manslaughter.”
Divers spent five days scouring the Bayesian wreck to retrieve the bodies of six missing passengers last month.
They found Mike Lynch and his four guests, Chris, Neda, Jonathan and Judy 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.
Officials said the victims had scrambled to reach air pockets in the yacht as it sank stern-first before rolling onto its right side on the seabed.
The CEO of the firm that built the Bayesian told The Sun how crew error could be responsible for the disaster aboard the “unsinkable” boat.
The survivors of the wreck, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, 57, left Sicily in a private jet last Sunday.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission
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