CNN
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Authorities in Italy have opened a manslaughter investigation into the sinking of a superyacht, which killed British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and six others off the coast of Sicily earlier this week.
Announcing the probe, prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said investigators found it was not the weather that caused the ship to sink, but was a result of the behavior of the crew and the way the boat was handled.
He said the investigation was not aimed at any individual.
“There are many possibilities for culpability. It could be just the captain. It could be the whole crew. It could be the guard. We are evaluating all of the factors to see whose behavior fault can be assigned to,” Cartosio said.
He added that the prosecutor’s office had “filed a dossier, at present against unknown persons, alleging the crime of negligent shipwreck and manslaughter.”
The British-flagged vessel, with 22 passengers and crew members on board, sank on Monday after its mast, one of the world’s tallest, broke in half during a violent storm.
Seven bodies have been recovered over the past four days, with divers working nearly 50 meters (160 feet) underwater to retrieve them. The last – believed to be that of Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah – was found in the wreck on Friday.
The other missing people whose bodies were recovered are thought to be those of Morgan Stanley International director Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer, prominent American lawyer Chris Morvilloand his wife Neda Morvillo, and that of onboard chef Recaldo Thomas.
Italian authorities have confirmed who was missing from the Bayesian, but have not yet released a coroner’s report to formally name those found.
Another prosecutor speaking at the same conference, Raffaele Cammarano, said that those killed were likely asleep at the time of the storm which was why they failed to escape, although he added he could not be sure as not all the bodies were found in their own rooms.
While the reasons for the sinking of the Bayesian superyacht remain unconfirmed, many believe the yacht was struck by a waterspout — one of several types of tornadoes. The coast guard reported the yacht was struck by a tornado, and a waterspout was reported to the European Severe Weather Database around the same time.
This is a developing story and will be updated.