Two Americans are reportedly among the passengers missing after a yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.
The search for six people continues after a 56-meter (183-ft) yacht carrying 22 sank in the island’s Palermo area in the early morning of Monday, Aug 19, according to reports.
The Italian coastguard said in a statement, per The Guardian, “This morning at about 5 a.m. following a violent storm, a 56-meter yacht called Bayesian flying the British flag sank near Porticello.”
Eyewitnesses reported that the yacht was anchored when it was struck by a tornado and lost its balance after being hit by a waterspout causing it to sink, per Sicilian news agency Ansa.
The body of a man, who has been identified as a cook on the boat from Canada, was recovered near the vessel on Monday morning, local outlet Palermo Today reported.
Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili dei del Fuoco via Getty Images
Two Americans and four British travelers are still among the missing as fire and water rescue teams search to try and locate them, per Ansa, and local news outlet Corriere Della Sera.
Coastguard patrol boats and firefighters rescued 15 people as divers reached 49 ft below the sea surface to the vessel, according to the outlets.
One of those rescued was a 1-year-old English girl named Sophie. She was sent to the Children’s Hospital of Palermo, where she was reunited with her mother, who received minor injuries in the incident, per Ansa, The Independent and Corriere Della Sera.
The pair remain in “good condition,” the head of the emergency room of the pediatric hospital, Domenico Cipolla, confirmed to latter outlet.
The father was sent to the Civic Hospital in Palermo, and five others rescued were transported to an emergency point at another hospital, Ansa reported.
Footage posted by Italy’s fire-and-rescue service, Vigili del Fuoco, shows rescue teams on Friday morning sailing out to sea in their continued search for passengers, with divers entering the water and helicopters flying overhead in an attempt for more findings of the wreckage.
According to the tracking website Vesselfinder, the 16-year-old yacht departed a port in Milazzo in Sicily on Wednesday, Aug. 14, and was listed as “at anchor” on Sunday. The ship is managed by Camper and Nicholsons International, per the BBC.
Said fisherman Pietro Asciutto, who witnessed the sinking from his home, per Ansa, “I was at home when the tornado hit. I immediately closed all the windows.”
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“Then I saw the boat, it had only one mast, it was very large. I saw it sink suddenly … The boat was still floating, then suddenly it disappeared,” he added.
The rescue teams theorize the missing people to possibly be trapped inside the hull, making the search for any passengers all the more urgent, Palermo Today reported.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Italian coastguard for further comment.
