Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among five bodies found in the search of the luxury superyacht the Bayesian on Wednesday.
Specialist cave divers continued their search for the missing passengers for a third day, breaking through a 3cm pane of class to gain access to the £30 million vessel.
Inside, they found Lynch and his daughter, along with three other passengers who had gathered on the vessel to celebrate the tech tycoon’s acquittal in a fraud trial. Four bodies have been brought to shore, but rescuers have not recovered one of those found. One person remains missing.
Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo are still unaccounted for.
With help from remotely controlled underwater vehicles, divers began scouring the wreckage of the Bayesian from 8am. The yacht is lying intact on its starboard side, 165ft underwater.
The robots can be used at depths of 300m and are equipped with “advanced technology to investigate the seabed and record videos and detailed images”, according to the coast guard.
Three body bags were seen being taken to the port of Porticello where dozens of emergency service staff were waiting. One was seen being put into the back of an ambulance.
James Cutfield, 51, the yacht’s captain, was questioned by prosecutors from the Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office for two hours yesterday after the vessel sank on Monday morning, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.
Cutfield, originally from North Shore, Auckland, New Zealand, was described as a “well-respected” lifelong seafarer by his brother Mark.
He said Cutfield had captained luxury yachts for the past eight years, had worked on them since he was a teenager and was a “very good sailor”.
Mark Cutfield told The New Zealand Herald that his brother was currently recovering in hospital, but that his injuries were not “too dramatic”. He said: “He’s safe, he’s OK.”
In the nearby town of Termini Imerese, prosecutors have opened an investigation into the disaster. They will seek to establish what caused the yacht to sink and establish any criminality.
Prosecutors will investigate the keel on the superyacht after divers found it was “partially elevated”.
Experts have suggested that the keel would normally be fully extended for extra stability when faced with bad weather.
A tornado over water, known as a waterspout, had struck the 184ft yacht with 22 people on board as it moored overnight off Porticello, a fishing village 10 miles east of Palermo.
A team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) also arrived in Porticello to look at the site of the sinking.
The MAIB is looking into what happened because the yacht Bayesian was flying a British flag and is not involved in the search for the remaining missing passenger, it is understood. telegraph.co.uk