The captain of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily last week is under investigation for involuntary manslaughterItalian media reported on Monday.
James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealander, was one of 15 people who survived the sinking of the “Bayesian” on August 19, which killed seven people, including British technology magnate Mike Lynch and his daughter.
Latest advances in research in Italy
Prosecutors on the Italian island announced on Saturday that they are investigating “possible crimes of negligent shipwreck and multiple homicide by negligence” due to the sinking of the yacht about 700 metres off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, following a downpour caused by a cold drop phenomenon.
But At the time, prosecutors did not name any suspects. and stressed that the investigation was still in the preliminary stages. Contacted by AFP on Monday, the prosecutor’s office did not respond.
A tragic celebration trip
Lynch, 59, had invited friends and family to the boat to celebrate his recent acquittal in a massive US fraud case involving the sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard, which could have cost him years in prison.
A video from the security cameras from the port shows how the luxury sailboat, 56 meters long, It was hit by a torrential downpour in the early hours of the morning and sank within minutes.
This audiovisual material discards previous theories about the mast collapse or impact with an obstaclesuggesting instead that the Massive water ingress due to the storm may have caused the yacht to lose stability.
The sailboat is sunken at a depth of about fifty meters.
The dramatic end of the Bayesian yacht
A major search operation involving specialist divers found the bodies of four of the British tycoon’s friends (Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of the board of directors of Morgan Stanley International, as well as his wife and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer who defended Mike Lynch in his trial, and his wife) on Wednesday and that of Lynch himself on Thursday. On Friday, rescuers found the body of his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Hanna Lynch.jpg
Courtesy of Telegraph
These six bodies were found in the cabins closest to the surface, leading authorities to believe that they had probably taken refuge there while trying to find air pockets.
The body of the yacht’s cook was found on the same day of the shipwreck. In total there are Seven fatalities and 15 rescued from whom it is hoped to obtain information through their statements and advance the investigation.
Source: Ambito
