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World Europe

One dead, six missing after superyacht sinks off Sicily

15 people plucked from the sea, rescuers backed by helicopter scour the waters



A Coast Guard boat and an Italian fireboat search for six others missing after recovering a victim due to a sailboat sank off the coast of Porticello, nosthwestern of Sicily Island, on August 19, 2024.
Image Credit: AFP

Rome: One body has been found and six other people remained missing as rescuers scoured the water off Sicily after a superyacht sank, Italy’s coast guard said on Monday.

“One body was located in the wreck but not yet recovered, at a depth of around 50 metres,” a spokesman told AFP. Earlier the coast guard said that four Britons, two Americans and one Canadian were missing.

Fifteen people were plucked from the sea after their 56-metre yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, officials said.

“This morning around 5:00 am (0300 GMT), following a violent storm, a 56-metre yacht called Bayesian, flying the British flag, sand near Porticello,” the Italian coast guard said in a statement.

The boat had 22 people aboard, including 10 crew members. Eight of those rescued were hospitalised.

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Rescuers backed by helicopter were scouring the waters near where the yacht rested on the seafloor after going down, some 50 metres below the surface.

Italian media earlier reported that a waterspout, which roughly resembles a mini-tornado over a body of water, hit the vessel.

A waterspout is a column that descends from a cloud to form a rotating mixture of wind and water over a body of water, according to National Geographic.

The most powerful and destructive type of waterspout is tornadic, which start as true tornadoes, often during severe thunderstorms, according to National Geographic.

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