Bayesian superyacht sinking: Banking boss and wife ‘suffocated in air bubble as oxygen ran out’
Four people who died when a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily suffocated in an air bubble as oxygen ran out, according to Italian media.
Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo were four of the seven people who died when the Bayesian superyacht sank last month.
They were on the trip with British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch to celebrate his acquittal of fraud charges in June in the US, when a violent storm hit.
Who was on superyacht that sank off Sicily?
Divers searching the area where the yacht sank Pic: Reuters
Mr Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch, and the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, died as well.
As the boat went down, Mr and Mrs Bloomer were said to have suffocated as oxygen ran out, and not drowned, La Repubblica reported.
Their post-mortems, along with those of Mr Morvillo and his wife, were said to have found no water in their lungs, suggesting they died as their cabins filled with carbon dioxide and ran out of oxygen.
Divers who recovered the bodies reportedly found them on the left side of cabins – which investigators believe showed them seeking the last pockets of air as the vessel tilted to the right after sinking.
There were no signs of injuries to the four victims examined so far, La Repubblica added.
Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, survived the sinking, along with 14 other people.
Mike Lynch
Pic: Reuters
Hannah Lynch
The remaining post-mortems, on Mr Lynch, his daughter, and Mr Thomas, will be carried out on Friday, reports added, and the superyacht is expected to be raised from the seabed as part of the investigation.
Italian prosecutors have placed the boat’s captain, New Zealander James Cutfield, and two Britons, engineer Tim Parker Eaton and crew member Matthew Griffiths, under investigation for suspected multiple manslaughter and culpable shipwreck.
Mr Parker Eaton reportedly denied allegations that external doors were left open on the night of the storm, allowing water to flood the engine room.
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Chef Recaldo Thomas
Chris Morvillo Pic: Clifford Chance handout
The three men have been allowed to leave Sicily as the investigation continues to try to understand what happened in the 16 minutes between the yacht being hit by the storm at 3.50am and sinking in 60 seconds at 4.06am.
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Mr Cutfield has been quoted by Italian media as telling investigators: “Griffiths came to wake me, saying there were 20 knots of wind.
“I checked the instruments and it was effectively true. I went out immediately and asked that everyone was advised of this because I didn’t like the situation.”
He reportedly said the yacht then tilted to 45 degrees and held there for a bit, before suddenly lurching the other way and throwing them into the sea.
Mr Griffiths has reportedly said: “We were then able to climb back on and we tried to save those we could. We were walking on the walls. We rescued those we could, also Cutfield rescued the little girl and her mother.”
This is the highest stakes diplomacy via social media.
The American president just posted on his Truth Social platform: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding.
“He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.
“Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Israel-Iran live: Trump says US knows where Iran’s supreme leader is ‘hiding’
It was followed minutes later by “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
In real-time, we are witnessing Donald Trump’s extreme version of maximum pressure diplomacy.
He’d probably call it the ‘art of the deal’, but bunker busters are the tool, and it comes with such huge consequences, intended and unintended, known and unknown.
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The bunker buster bomb which could destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions
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Nuclear sites targeted in Iran
There is intentional ambiguity in the president’s messaging. His assumption is that he can apply his ‘art of the deal’ strategy to a deeply ideological geopolitical challenge.
It’s all playing out publicly. Overnight, the New York Times, via two of its best-sourced reporters, had been told that Mr Trump is weighing whether to use B-2 aircraft to drop bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Axios was reporting that a meeting is possible between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
The reporting came just as Mr Trump warned “everyone in Tehran to evacuate”. The nuclear sites being threatened with bunker busters are not in Tehran, but Trump’s words are designed to stoke tension, to confuse and to apply intense pressure.
His actions are too. He left the G7 in Canada early and asked his teams to gather in the White House Situation Room.
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Trump: ‘I want an end, not a ceasefire’
This is a game of smoke, mirrors, brinkmanship and – maybe – bluff. In Tehran, what’s left of the leadership is watching and reading closely as they consider what’s next.
Maybe the Supreme Leader and his regime’s days are numbered. Things remain very unpredictable.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
From history, though, regime change, even when it comes with a plan – and there is certainly not one here, spells civil war and from that comes a refugee crisis.
These are truly tense and chaotic times.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
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