Two Americans among 6 missing after luxury yacht sinks off coast of Sicily during violent storm

Among the missing persons were four British, two Americans, and one Canadian passenger, while a dead body was discovered near the shipwreck on Monday morning.

A superyacht “suddenly sank” off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm on Monday, according to Italian authorities. At least one person died, and six people went missing after the luxury boat capsized near the Sicilian capital of Palermo. The incident took place at around 5 am local time (11 pm ET) when the 160-foot yacht met with “terrible weather conditions,” the City Council of Bagheria said in a statement.

This picture taken from a video released by the Italian Coast Guard on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, shows the rescue operations in the stretch of Sea near Palermo, Sicily, in southern Italy, where the sailing yacht Bayesian under the UK flag sank early Monday. AP/PTI(AP08_19_2024_000220A) (AP)

Two Americans missing after luxury yacht capsizes in the Mediterranean

Among the missing persons were four British, two Americans, and one Canadian passenger. The officials said that they were able to rescue 15 people when the coastal area was hit by a strong tornado. Out of them, eight passengers, including a one-year-old baby, were transported to hospitals, where they were deemed to be in stable condition. The rest were at the Port Authority in nearby Porticello, according to the statement. Meanwhile, a dead body was discovered near the shipwreck on Monday morning.

Karsten Borner, the captain of a ship that rescued the survivors, said that at the time of the incident, there was a “strong hurricane gust, and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position,” per Reuters. He explained that they had “watched the ship behind us not to touch them, and we managed to keep the ship in position.”

However, when the storm was over, Borner and his crew realised that the massive yacht called the “Bayesian” was no longer behind them. “We noticed that the ship behind us was gone,” he said. Borner went on to say, “Fifteen people inside. Four people were injured, three heavily injured and we brought them to our ship,” adding, “Then we communicated with the Coast Guard and after some time, the Coast Guard came and later picked up injured people.”