Superyacht sinking: post-mortems find banking boss and wife 'suffocated'

New reports suggest a banking boss and his wife, who died when a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, suffocated to death in an air bubble as oxygen ran out.

Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer were two of the seven people who died when the Bayesian superyacht sank last month.

They were on the trip with Suffolk-based tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, to celebrate him being cleared of fraud charges in June in the US, when a violent storm hit.

Mr Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, his lawyer Chris Morvillo, Mr Morvillo's wife Neda, 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.

The remaining post-mortems, on Mr Lynch, his daughter, and Mr Thomas, will be carried out on Friday.

Investigations

Prosecutors are investigating the captain and two crew members for possible responsibility in connection with the sinking.

The 56-metre (184ft) British-flagged luxury yacht sank during what appears to have been a sudden downburst, or localised powerful wind from a thunderstorm that spreads rapidly after hitting the surface.

Prosecutors said raising the Bayesian and examining the yacht for evidence would provide key elements to the investigation.

No timeline has been determined.

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