05 September 2024 , 15:17
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Autopsies of tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are set to take place on Friday, with four victims already confirmed to have died from suffocation
Four of the people who died on tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s Bayesian superyacht did not drown, but instead suffocated to death in air bubbles that filled with carbon dioxide, it has been claimed.
The victims, including Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, his wife Judy, as well as New York lawyer Chris Morvillo and his partner Neda, reportedly had no water in their lungs, raising the harrowing possibility they may have been conscious as the yacht sank.
They were among seven people, including Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, killed in last month’s tragedy when the £30-million superyacht sank just 16 minutes after it was hit by a violent downburst.
British chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer ( Image: FAMILY HANDOUT/AFP via Getty Ima)
The Italian newspaper La Repubblica claimed the lungs of banker, Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife Judy were "not full of water and neither were their stomachs or trachea". They have also reported that the couple "suffocated" after oxygen ran out in an air bubble below deck that had formed after the yacht sank.
The publication added that the bubble would not have lasted long, as it would have been "small and quickly filled with rising levels of toxic carbon dioxide". Among others who lost their lives in the tragedy were lawyer Chris Morvillo and his partner Neda, with were also found to have no water in their lungs in post-mortem examinations carried out earlier in the week.
All the victims in the disaster were passengers, except for the yacht’s chef Recaldo Thomas. His body, which was found in the sea close to where the Bayesian sank, was the first to be recovered.
The other victims, apart from Oxford University-bound Hannah who was found in her cabin, were in another room.
Italian media has also claimed Hannah’s mother and Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who survived, had gone below deck to wake them and inform them the vessel was about to go down off the coast of Sicily at Porticello, near Palermo, on August 19. Ms Barcares, who was among 15 survivors, is said to have been woken by the fierce storm and gone onto the bridge where she found several crew members.
She then went back below deck to warn the others, but cut her bare feet on glass that had fallen onto the floor. Three members of the crew, including New Zealand skipper James Cutfield, 51, British chief engineer Tim Parker Eaton, 59, and conational Matthew Griffiths, 22, are being investigated for causing a disaster and manslaughter.
Rescue teams mounted a search and recovery operation after the Bayesian sank ( Image: PA)
New Zealand-born Mr Cutfield, who has been a captain on luxury yachts for eight years, was seen for the first time since flying from Sicily to his home in Majorca by private jet last week. He still had a white bandage on his leg as he was seen leaving his house in a black Mercedes.
It is claimed Mr Cutfield has refused to answer questions, although he reportedly told coastguards he "didn’t see" the storm coming. His brother Mark, who lives in New Zealand, said he was "a top sailor" in his youth before marrying his wife Cristina in Majorca last year.
Matthew Griffiths, who was on board the Bayesian at the time of the tragedy, told authorities that crew members did everything they could to save passengers. According to Italian news outlet Ansa, he said: "I woke up the captain when the wind was at 20 knots (23 mph). He gave orders to wake everyone else.
"The ship tilted and we were thrown into the water. Then we managed to get back up and tried to rescue those we could. We were walking on the walls (of the boat). Referring to passenger Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter, he added: "We saved who we could, Cutfield also saved the little girl and her mother."
Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano previously said the yacht was most likely hit by a "downburst," a very strong downward wind. However, the sinking has puzzled naval marine experts, who said a vessel like the Bayesian, built by high-end Italian yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm and should not have sunk as quickly as it did.
Prosecutors in the town of Termini Imerese, near Palermo, have said their investigation will take time, with the wreck yet to be salvaged from the sea. They are investigating whether human error may have caused the disaster, with claims that "portholes and hatches" were left open, which led to the ship being engulfed by water.
Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, who is heading the investigation, has said his team will consider every possible element of responsibility, including those of the captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision and the yacht’s manufacturer.