Italian Prosecutor Launches Manslaughter Investigation into Yacht Tragedy
An Italian prosecutor has initiated a manslaughter investigation following the tragic sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, which claimed the lives of British tech magnate Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, and five others.
Ambrogio Cartosio, head of the public prosecutor’s office in Termini Imerese, announced that while the yacht encountered a sudden meteorological event, there are plausible grounds to investigate potential crimes of multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck through negligence.
The 56-meter yacht, named Bayesian, capsized during a fierce pre-dawn storm on Monday near Palermo. Fifteen individuals, including Lynch’s wife and the yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, survived the incident.
The sinking has baffled naval experts and is now raising questions about the circumstances leading to the tragedy. A vessel of the Bayesian’s caliber, built by Italian yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm and should not have sunk as quickly as it did.
Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano revealed that the meteorological event was likely a “downburst,” an intense but relatively frequent occurrence at sea. It’s believed that passengers were asleep when the storm hit, explaining their inability to escape.
At the time of the announcement, Cartosio said that the investigation was not currently targeting any specific individuals. However, an unnamed official confirmed to Reuters on Monday that Cutfield, the Bayesian’s captain, is now under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck.
The news agency clarified that “being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will necessarily follow.” Formal notifications must be issued to potential subjects of the investigation before authorities can carry out autopsies on the bodies of the dead.
The formal notice followed after the 51-year-old New Zealander, described as “extremely cooperative,” had been questioned twice by Italian authorities. At the time of this writing, it remains unclear if other people, including other members of the crew, will be put under investigation.
Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini, attributed the shipwreck to a series of “indescribable, unreasonable errors” by the crew, ruling out design or construction flaws. The prosecutors emphasized the importance of salvaging the wreck, which lies intact at a depth of 50 meters, to determine the cause of the disaster.
The tragedy has deeply affected the tech and legal communities. Lynch, 59, had been celebrating his recent acquittal in a US fraud trial. Among the other victims were his lawyer, Chris Morvillo, and Jonathan Bloomer, a Morgan Stanley banker who had testified as a character witness in Lynch’s case.
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