The wife of British billionaire Mike Lynch described her harrowing escape from their 184-foot superyacht before it capsized and sank during a squall of the coast of Sicily.
Angela Bacares made it to safety along with 15 other passengers after the violent tempest struck just after 4 a.m. Monday, consuming her sailing yacht Bayesian amidst a tower of tornado-waterspouts.
The 57-year-old described how she was woken early that morning after the boat “tilted” sharply, and after initially thinking nothing was wrong found herself showered in broken glass, according to Italy’s La Republica.
She then fled from her cabin – slicing her feet on the broken glass scattered across the deck – and safely made it off the boat as it slipped beneath the waves within minutes.
Her tech mogul husband – known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” – did not make it off, nor did their 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.
What to know after a tornado sank the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily, leaving one dead and six missing:
- A superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing one passenger and leaving five others missing — including Michael Lynch, a tech tycoon known as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” officials said.
- Lynch had invited guests from the legal firm that represented him, Clifford Chance, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage, according to the Telegraph.
- Captain James Catfield, who piloted the 184-foot, British-flagged craft, was among the 15 crew members and passengers to survive after the tornado struck Monday before sunrise.
- Security camera footage shot from 650 feet from where the Bayesian sank Monday shows it slowly disappearing.
- Italian authorities have said the chances of the passengers surviving the disaster was very small, but “never say never.”
Four others also remain missing, including Lynch’s attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, and Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, all of whom had gathered onboard to celebrate Lynch’s recent acquittal of multi-billion dollar fraud charges.
The boat now rests about 160-feet under water, and rescuers are struggling to locate the missing whose bodies are believed to be trapped within the cabins.
It remains unclear what caused the luxurious ship to founder. Some have speculated that its unusually tall 240-foot mast — one of the tallest in the world — may have helped the boat become blown over in the high winds.
