One dead and six missing in Bayesian yacht sinking.

One man died and six other people were missing, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm early on Monday.

There were 10 crew members and 12 passengers onboard when the British-flagged Bayesian superyacht was hit by a waterspout, similar to a tornado over water, at around 05.00.

The 56-m vessel was anchored off Porticello, in the province of Palermo, with those onboard from the UK, the US, Canada, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Ireland, according to the BBC.

15 persone tratte in salvo dopo l'affondamento di uno yacht al largo di Porticello. In corso le ricerche coordinate dalla #GuardiaCostiera di #Palermo per le 6 persone ancora disperse, con mezzi navali e aerei della Guardia Costiera, e sommozzatori dei @vigilidelfuoco pic.twitter.com/NX8XSP9ArM

— Guardia Costiera (@guardiacostiera) August 19, 2024

Emergency services rescued 15 people, including a one-year-old girl, with divers inspecting the wreckage of the yacht at a depth of 49 metres.

The Italian coastguard is co-ordinating a major search for the six people missing, including entrepreneur Mike Lynch, known as "the British Bill Gates".

Lynch, 59, co-founded software company Autonomy which was later bought by tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion. His wife Angela Bacares was among those rescued on Monday.

Photo: Perini Navi