According to the authorities, four out of seven victims of a superyacht that sank during a storm last month in Italy died from “dry drowning.”
A spokesperson for the attorney of the captain of Bayesian, the ship that sank off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, on August 19, said the phenomenon is also known as “atypical swimming,” which means there was no water in the lungs, the tracheas, or the stomach.
Local media reported that the cause of death for the first four victims was because they found an air pocket in the cabin where five bodies were discovered and consumed all of the oxygen before it turned toxic from carbon dioxide.
Officials said that the autopsies were performed on Wednesday by the Forensic Medicine Institute at the Palermo Polyclinic Hospital. They included American lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo. Jonathan Bloomer, a Morgan Stanley banker, was also present, as well as his wife Anne Elizabeth Judith Bloomer.
On Friday, autopsies of British tech titan Mike Lynch (18) and his daughter will be performed.
Renaldo, the chef on board the ship, has not been autopsied yet due to difficulties in reaching his family.
Last Saturday, all seven victims were examined for physical injuries. None of them had broken bones or any other injuries that could have led to their death.
Earlier in August, the prosecutor who was investigating the case suggested that the victims were searching for air pockets.
The autopsies form part of a criminal investigation involving the ship’s Captain James Cutfield, Tim Parker Eaton, the ship’s machine engineer, and Matthew Griffith, a sailor who was on duty the night of the accident. The men are not in Italy.
The investigation is being conducted for “multiple murders” and for causing the shipwreck. However, authorities claim that this does not mean they will face criminal charges. The prosecutor who was in charge of the case allowed them to leave the country.
The 56-meter yacht was sunk within 16 minutes after being hit by a downburst, or tornado in the early morning hours of August 19, 2018. The vessel will need to be raised to allow for an investigation and ensure that 18,000 liters of fuel are not leaking into the water around Porticello, near Palermo.
The company owned by Angela Bacares Lynch, the wife of Lynch, has sent out bids for the salvage.
In the next few days, toxicology results for the seven victims will be available. The prosecutor told a press conference that no alcohol or drug tests were conducted on the crew.
Lynch and his partner Sushovan Hassain were acquitted in June 2024 of fraud charges by a US court. Hussain died the same day after being hit by a car on London’s streets. The charges related to the sale of their company Autonomy, to Hewlett Packard. Hewlett Packard has stated that it will not abandon its civil lawsuit against them for $4 billion damages currently being heard by a UK Court.
