One dead, six missing after superyacht sinks off Sicily
15 people plucked from the sea, rescuers backed by helicopter scour the waters
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.
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.