British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among six tourists missing after a luxury yacht sank in bad weather off the coast of Sicily, sources said.
A body, believed to be that of the vessel’s chef, has been found and 15 people were rescued, according to local media.
Four of the missing passengers are British and two are American, Italian news website la Reppublica stated.
The superyacht, named Bayesian, capsized at about 5am off Palermo and was flying a British flag, according to ship-tracking site Marine Traffic.
The body was found near the wreck at a depth of 50 metres, fire and rescue services said.
A spokesperson for Lynch said there was no comment.
Lynch late last month was cleared of charges relating to a multi-billion dollar business deal.
The businessman, once hailed a shining example of British ingenuity, was extradited to the US last May for a trial that acquitted him on all 15 felony counts over the $11 billion purchase of his company.
The 11-week criminal trial in San Francisco looked into Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard’s 2011 acquisition of Autonomy, a business software company that Lynch founded and then oversaw as chief executive in Britain.
Hewlett Packard later split into Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co and consumer business HP Inc.
Lynch faced more than 20 years in US prison if convicted of the fraud and conspiracy allegations, and the Times reported that he spent 13 months under house arrest awaiting the trial that ended in June this year.
By PA Reporters
source: PA
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