The daughter of British entrepreneur Mike Lynch is the final person left to be found after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, with emergency workers saying that she remains their “priority”.
Hannah Lynch, 18, had been onboard her tech tycoon father’s luxury boat alongside 20 others, when the Bayesian capsized during stormy weather.
The bodies of Mr Lynch, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, have all been recovered from the wreckage and identified.
The yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was found and identified on Monday, just a few hours after the vessel capsized. The Italian coastguard have now confirmed that the search has resumed to find the teenager, who remains unaccounted for.
Her mother, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 survivors who were rescued from a lifeboat after the boat dramatically sank in minutes at around 5am on Monday morning.
Prior to the tragedy, Mr Lynch had been hosting “colleagues and collaborators” in celebration after winning an $11bn fraud case in the US.
Those also killed include Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
Hannah had been due to study English at University of Oxford having recently finished her A-levels, The Times reported. A gifted pupil, she won a prize for English while she was in Year 10 at Latymer Upper School.
The prestigious Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, where she had been a pupil, has said they are all “incredibly shocked” after a yacht sank with her onboard.
A spokesperson said: “We are all incredibly shocked by the news that Hannah and her father are among those missing in this tragic incident and our thoughts are with their family and everyone involved as we await further updates.”
Friends of the teenager described her as a “supernova” – a gentle, kind, clever young woman who was a staunch feminist, according to The Times.
Since her father’s death has been confirmed, tributes have flooded in from across the science and technology sector, with David Tabizel, Mr Lynch’s Autonomy co-founder, saying: “The world has lost a genius. His family have lost a giant of a man.”
Mr Lynch was a member of the Create The Change fundraising board, set up by Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the building of the Francis Crick Institute.
Chairman Lord John Browne, who described him as “a human being of great ability”, said: “MikeLynch should be remembered as the person who catalysed a breed of deep tech entrepreneurs in the UK.
“His ideas and his personal vision were a powerful contribution to science and technology in both Britain and globally.”