The cause of death for three other British victims, who died after the vessel sank off the coast of Sicily, is still under investigation.
Tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s cause of death has been recorded as drowning following the Bayesian superyacht disaster, an inquest has heard.
The 59-year-old billionaire, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was one of seven people who died after the yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in August.
The Suffolk Coroner’s Court in Ipswich has opened and postponed an inquest into his death as well as the deaths of three other British victims, including his 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch, the 70-year-old chairman of Morgan Stanley International Bank Jonathan Bloomer, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer.
Mr. Lynch’s provisional cause of death was listed as drowning, according to Detective Superintendent Michael Brown of the Suffolk Police Department. The remaining three deaths are still the subject of an investigation.
He stated that additional testing was required to determine their cause of death, which is typical following the initial post-mortem in Italy, which was comparable to a Home Office post-mortem in the United Kingdom.
The Bloomers resided in Sevenoaks in Kent, while Mr. Lynch and his daughter both resided in London.
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr. Lynch’s June acquittal in a US trial over allegations that he committed a significant fraud in relation to the 2011 sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP).
There were 22 people on board, including his wife Angela Bacares, who was one of the 15 people who were saved when the ship capsized during a violent storm.
American lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo, as well as Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan citizen who was working as a chef on the ship, also perished in the catastrophe.
All four British victims died at 5 a.m. on August 19 after being “lost at sea” following the Bayesian’s sinking approximately 0.8 nautical miles off the coast of Porticello, a fishing village.
According to the findings of the inquest, the British-flagged yacht “sank rapidly” between 4.15 and 4.45 a.m. for reasons that “yet to be ascertained.”
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom has initiated an investigation, and the Italian authorities have initiated their own criminal investigation.
Nigel Parsley, the senior coroner in Suffolk, postponed the inquest until April 15 of next year.
