A 56-meter-long luxury sailboat, the
Bayesan, with 22 people on board, sank at dawn on Monday off
Porticello, near Palermo, after a tornado hit the area.
Coast guards rescued 15 passengers but seven others were
reported missing, including one person whose body was recovered
later on Monday morning after firefighter divers reached the
boat located at a depth of 49 metres, half a mile from the
coast.
One of the survivors is a one-year-old child who was taken to
Palermo's paediatric hospital.
The passengers on board the British-flagged boat were mainly
from Great Britain, in addition to one citizen of New Zealand,
one of Sri Lanka, one Irish national and two passengers with
dual British-French citizenship.
The boat sank while it was moored in the harbor of Porticello at
Santa Flavia near Palermo.
Carabinieri police, the 118 emergency medical service and the
civil protection are aiding survivors.
Port authorities are investigating the accident.
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