An Italian prosecutor has launched a manslaughter investigation into the deaths of seven people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who were killed when a luxury yacht sank in stormy weather off Sicily earlier this week.
Ambrogio Cartosio, head of the public prosecutor’s office of Termini Imerese, announced the investigation at a news conference, stating that while the yacht was hit by a sudden meteorological event, it was “plausible” that crimes of multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence had been committed.
The investigation is currently not focused on any individual, Cartosio emphasized. Fifteen people survived the tragedy, including Lynch’s wife, whose company owned the 56-meter-long yacht, Bayesian, and the vessel’s captain, James Cutfield.
Cartosio noted that the disaster would be even more painful if the investigation revealed that it was caused by irresponsible behavior. Cutfield and other survivors have been questioned by authorities, with Raffaele Cammarano, another prosecutor, describing Cutfield as “extremely cooperative” during questioning.
The investigation is ongoing, with authorities working to determine the circumstances surrounding the yacht’s sinking during a fierce storm off Porticello, near Palermo, on Monday.
