British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer among those missing after Bayesian sank off Sicily.

Rescuers continued their search on Tuesday for six people missing after a luxury superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a freak storm at around 04.30 on Monday.

Four Britons and two Americans are reported missing, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy; and Chris Morvillo, an American lawyer for Clifford Chance, and his wife Neda.

The body of a man, reportedly the yacht's onboard chef, was recovered on Monday.

There were 10 crew members and 12 passengers onboard when the British-flagged Bayesian yacht was hit by a waterspout, similar to a tornado, as it lay anchored off Porticello, east of Palermo.

#Porticello #Palermo, riprese alle 8 di #oggi le immersioni dei #sommozzatori speleo dei #vigilidelfuoco per le ricerche dei 6 dispersi. Complesso l’ingresso nello yacht, in atto la pianificazione per aprire accessi più agevoli e ispezionare l’interno [#20agosto 11:00] pic.twitter.com/QRTdGtO8r2

— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) August 20, 2024

Emergency services rescued 15 people, including Lynch's wife Angela Bacares and a one-year-old girl whose mother Charlotte Golunski held her above the waves after being thrown off the deck of the 56-m vessel.

The 15 people flung from the Bayesian into the sea took refuge in lifeboats and were taken aboard a nearby boat before emergency services took them to hospital.

Specialist divers on Tuesday were inspecting the wreckage of the yacht at a depth of 49 metres as part of a major search operation conducted by the Italian coastguard.

Mike Lynch

Entrepreneur Mike Lynch, known as "the British Bill Gates", co-founded software company Autonomy which was bought in 2011 by tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11 billion.

For more than a decade Lynch, 59, was embroiled in a legal battle related to the high-profile sale, with HP accusing him of inflating the value of Autonomy before it was acquired by the American technology giant.

Lynch, who always denied any wrongdoing, was acquitted in the US in June on multiple fraud charges, over which he had been facing two decades in prison.

The entrepreneur was reportedly celebrating his acquittal on the Bayesian - owned by Revtom, a firm controlled by his wife - when disaster struck in the early hours of Monday.

Separately, Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy's former vice-president and Lynch's co-defendant in the US fraud case, died after being hit by a car while out running on Saturday.

Photo Vigili del Fuoco