Victims killed in sinking of super yacht Bayesian off coast of Sicilian port of Porticello in Italy died of ‘dry drowning’, first autopsies show

Initial autopsies of four of the seven victims who died when a super yacht sank in a storm in Italy last month show they died of “dry drowning”, according to authorities.

The Bayesian went down off the coast of the Sicilian port of Porticello on August 19.

The cause of death of four of the victims suggests they had found an air bubble in the cabin, where five bodies were later discovered, and had consumed all the oxygen before the air pocket turned toxic due to carbon dioxide, local media reports.

The phenomenon, also known as “atypical drowning,” means they had no water in their lungs, tracheae or stomachs, a spokesperson for the lawyer of the captain of the Bayesian said.

There is no medically accepted “dry drowning” condition — “dry drowning” or other terms such as secondary drowning or delayed drowning are sometimes used to describe patients whose condition worsened after a drowning rescue or who had very little water in the lungs.

The American Red Cross and other health organisations have recommended against using the terms; people may experience health impacts after being in water, but it’s not the same as drowning, it says.

The first four autopsies, which showed causes of death consistent with carbon dioxide poisoning, were carried out at the Forensic Medicine Institute of the Palermo Polyclinic hospital, officials said.

Those autopsies, for American lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo, Morgan Stanley banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Anne Elizabeth Judith Bloomer, were finalised on Wednesday.

Autopsies on British tech titan Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter are expected to be carried out on Friday.

No date has been set yet for the autopsy of Recaldo Thomas, the ship’s onboard chef, due to the difficulty reaching his family in Antigua.

All seven victims were scanned for injuries last Saturday, which found none had suffered broken bones or other physical injuries that might have contributed to their deaths.

The prosecutor investigating the case first suggested earlier in August the idea that the victims had been searching for an air pocket.

Crew probed for ‘multiple manslaughter’

The autopsies are part of the criminal investigation into the ship’s captain, James Cutfield, the ship’s machine engineer Tim Parker Eaton and sailor Matthew Griffith, who was on watch the night of the accident. None of the men are in Italy.

They are being investigated for “multiple manslaughter” and for causing a shipwreck, but authorities say this doesn’t mean they will be charged with any crimes. They were allowed to leave the country by the prosecutor in charge of the investigation.

The 56m yacht sank within 16 minutes of being struck by a down burst or tornado in the early morning of August 19.

The ship will have to be raised for the investigation and to ensure that the 18,000L of fuel on board does not leak into the sea around the port of Porticello near Palermo.

Bids have been sent out for the salvage, which will be paid for by the company of Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, which owns the yacht.

Toxicology results on the seven victims are expected in the coming days. No alcohol or drug tests were carried out on any of the crew members, the prosecutor said in a press conference after all the victims’ bodies had been recovered.

Lynch and his business partner Stephen Chamberlain, who died after being struck by a car the day the Bayesian sank, had been acquitted of fraud charges in a US court in June 2024.

The charges were related to the sale of their company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard, which has said it will not drop its civil lawsuit for $US4 billion in damages now being heard in a UK court.