In Italy, fears are that Mike Lynch and other passengers of the yacht have died; shock in MS

The British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer are among those feared dead aboard the sunken wreckage of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, the Italian Coast Guard said in a statement.

“Never say never is our motto“, he said Vincenzo Zagarolaspokesperson for the Italian Coast Guard. “But at this point, it would be reasonable to think that we are more likely to find the missing people inside the vessel.”.

Zagarola added that the search for the six missing people would continue, with the help of military vessels and helicopters. In a separate interview with the PA news agency, when asked if the passengers would be found alive, he said: ““reasonably the answer should be no.”

Six guests and nine crew members were rescued from the yacht Bayesianwhich sank on Monday after a tornado struck the vessel near Porticello, Sicily. Lynch and her family were celebrating her recent acquittal on fraud charges with a small group of advisers when the violent storm hit.

The head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, Salvo Cocina, said in a message to Bloomberg early Tuesday that the six missing passengers are Bloomer and his wife, Judy, Clifford Chance’s partner Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, as well as Lynch and her daughter Hannah.

Lynch, 59, had been trying to restore his reputation as one of Europe’s most successful entrepreneurs. For years, he had argued that he had been the scapegoat for Hewlett Packard Co.’s $11 billion acquisition of his software company, Autonomy Corp., in 2011. A year later, HP wrote down $8.8 billion of the purchase price and publicly accused Lynch of fraud.

Italian authorities have already launched an investigation into the sinking. The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch, which investigates maritime accidents involving British vessels around the world, has sent four inspectors to Sicily to conduct a preliminary assessment, a Department for Transport spokesman said. They will speak to local authorities and emergency services teams to determine whether an investigation is necessary.

Morgan Stanley expresses shock over Jonathan Bloomer’s disappearance in shipwreck

A spokesman for the American investment bank Morgan Stanley said on Tuesday that the entity is “shocked” and “saddened“on the disappearance of the non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomerin the shipwreck of the sailing ship ‘Bayesian’ in the waters of Sicily.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected, particularly the Bloomer family, as we all await further news on this terrible situation.“, the spokesman said.

Bloomer is one of six people missing after the boat carrying 22 people sank Monday morning in a massive tornado.

The executive is missing along with lawyer Chris Morvillo, of the Clifford Chance law firm, British tycoon Mike Lynch and the latter’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah Lynch.

Bloomer’s wife, Judy Bloomer, also remains missing, while the identity of a sixth person who has not yet been accounted for remains unknown.

The yacht was carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers, of whom 15, including Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, were rescued, while a body was recovered, which local media said was believed to be the vessel’s cook.

Divers are searching the hull of the sunken ship, which is about 160 feet (49 meters) deep, while Coast Guard patrol boats and helicopters are searching for the missing in the area.

Bloomer, 70, is a British citizen and has served on the boards of several companies, while Morvillo worked on several corruption cases and was a New York district attorney from 1999 to 2005.

Morvillo also worked on the criminal investigation into the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001.

Lynch is known for launching several software companies, but faced legal action in 2011 over alleged fraud over the sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) for US$11 billion (9.943 billion euros).

According to British media, Stephen Chamberlain, a co-defendant in the fraud case who was also acquitted, died after being hit by a vehicle while jogging in the town of Stretham, in the English county of Cambridge, this weekend.

The two were acquitted in June and, according to British media, the trip on the sailboat through Italian waters was to celebrate having been exonerated by a federal court in San Francisco (United States).

With information from Bloomberg and EFE