MIRACLE RAFT
Pics show tiny life raft that saved Bayesian survivors including baby as they crammed on screaming as yacht sank
The search mission continues in Palermo today with specialist divers deployed to the scene of the wreck
NEW pictures show the tiny life raft that saved 11 people after the Bayesian superyacht sank in Italy on Monday.
The £14million luxury vessel plunged more than 160ft to the bottom of the sea after it was toppled by extreme weather at around 5am on Monday.
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The mast collapsed when it was hit by heavy storms and a tornado, causing the boat to capsize off the coast of Palermo, with four Brits and two Americans still yet to be found.
Fifteen people were rescued in total, with most of them clinging to the small orange life-raft as they were pulled from the water.
The yacht's chef, Ricardo Thomas, was confirmed dead after rescuers found his body near the wreck on Monday.
UK billionaire tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, are among the missing but his wife Angela Bacares, 57, was saved.
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British tourist Charlotte Golunski, 35, was also rescued with her one-year-old baby from the doomed yacht.
She managed to grab hold of young Sophia as the pair were forced into the Mediterranean amid rough weather and choppy waters.
It comes as...
- 'UK's Bill Gates' Mike Lynch & his daughter Hannah, 18, remain missing on the wreck
- Also missing are Jonathan Bloomer, Judy Bloomer, Chris Morvillo and Neda Morvillo
- Lynch's wife revealed how she was awoken by a 'tilt' as the yacht sunk
- The captain of the Bayesian broke his silence on the horror storm
- Experts believe the yacht's 'tallest mast in the world' may have contributed to the disaster
- Frantic text messages from the survivors revealed the chaos
Most read in The Sun
International chairman of bank giant Morgan Stanley, Brit Jonathan Bloomer, 70, is one of the six feared dead along with his wife Judy.
And top New York lawyer Chris Morvillo, a solicitor at major firm Clifford Chance who worked for Mike Lynch, and his wife Neda, were also lost at sea.
The search for those feared dead entered its second day today with dramatic footage showing firefighters and divers scouring the water.
Specialist divers have been deployed from the UK government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch to help.
Although the 184ft yacht is lying "practically intact" on its side at the bottom of the sea, rescuers have been struggling to get into it.
Diver Marco Tilotta said there was a "world of objects" including furniture and debris obstructing the narrow stairs in front of the yacht cabins.
He said of the missing on Tuesday morning: "We will do everything we can to recover the bodies.
"The weather conditions are worsening but we hope to continue the operations without problems".
A shell-shocked Angela told Italian outlet La Repubblica that she and her husband woke up at around 4am on Monday to a sudden shift onboard the superyacht.
The mum, who suffered horrific injuries to both feet, told the Italian outlet of the "slight tilt" she felt before tragedy struck.
She reportedly told Corriere that "everything was falling" around her and she was almost "carried away" before she managed to escape to safety.
Her husband Lynch, previously dubbed "the British Bill Gates", was hosting a party on the boat.
The business tycoon - worth an estimated £852million - was surrounded by members of his legal firm and company Invoke Capital to celebrate a US jury clearing him of fraud earlier this summer.
He was extradited to the US in 2023 over the £8.5billion sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 and was accused of inflating the company’s value.
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The dad-of-two had spent a year under house arrest in the States.
He was cleared of 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy, following a trial in San Francisco in June.
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