Initial results of autopsies on four of the people who died on board the Bayesian superyacht revealed that the victims may have suffocated instead of drowning. The victims had very little water in their lungs and stomach, suggesting that they suffocated, a condition known as “dry drowning,” according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. These findings support the theory that the victims, who were found dead inside the shipwreck, may have discovered an air pocket after the ship sank. They may have used up all the oxygen in the air pocket and started breathing in toxic carbon dioxide, leading to suffocation before drowning. Further tests, such as toxicological screenings, are required to confirm this theory.
The autopsies were conducted earlier this week on the bodies of four of the people recovered from inside the hull of the Bayesian superyacht after it sank off the coast of Sicily, near Porticello. These individuals included New York lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda, and Morgan Stanley executive Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judith.
In total, seven people died when the Bayesian sank during an August storm, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah. Lynch had recently been acquitted on fraud charges related to Hewlett Packard’s acquisition of Autonomy, a company he founded. Members of his defense team were also on the yacht celebrating his acquittal when the vessel was likely hit by a waterspout, a tornado that forms over water, causing it to sink.
Fifteen people managed to escape and were rescued by a nearby sailboat, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares. One person, the yacht’s chef Recaldo Thomas, was found dead immediately after the shipwreck. Six others were initially missing but were later recovered from inside the shipwreck, including Lynch and his daughter.
Five of the bodies were found in a room on the left side of the ship, believed to be the last part to flood, where an air pocket may have turned toxic. Autopsies for Lynch, his daughter, and the chef Thomas are scheduled for later this week.
These autopsies are part of a criminal investigation into the ship’s captain, James Cutfield, who is under investigation for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck. Investigators are trying to determine how a supposedly “unsinkable” vessel like the Bayesian, built by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained relatively unscathed.
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