Initial autopsies of four of the seven victims who died last month when a superyacht sank during a storm in Italy indicate they died from “dry drowning,” authorities say.
The phenomenon, also known as “atypical drowning,” means there was no water in the lungs, windpipes or stomachs, said a spokesman for the lawyer for the captain of the Bayesian, which sank off the coast of the Sicilian port of Porticello on Aug. 19.
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 their lungs. However, the American Red Cross and other health organizations have advised against using the terms; people can experience health effects after being in water, but it is not the same as drowning, the report said.
According to local media, the cause of death of the first four victims indicates that they had found an air pocket in the cabin where the bodies of five victims were found. They had used up all the oxygen before the air pocket became toxic with carbon dioxide.
The autopsies on U.S. attorney Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo, Morgan Stanley banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Anne Elizabeth Judith Bloomer were performed Wednesday at the Forensic Medical Institute of the Palermo Polyclinic Hospital, officials said.
Autopsies are expected to be performed on British tech giant Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter on Friday.
No date has yet been set for the autopsy of Recaldo Thomas, the ship's chef, due to the difficulty of reaching his family in Antigua.
All seven victims were scanned for injuries last Saturday, and it was found that none had suffered broken bones or other physical injuries that could have contributed to their deaths.
The public prosecutor who investigated the case already suggested in early August that the victims were looking for an air bubble.
The autopsies are part of the criminal investigation into the ship's captain, James Cutfield, the ship's mechanical engineer, Tim Parker Eaton, and deckhand 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 causing a shipwreck, but authorities say that does not mean they are being charged with any crimes. They were allowed to leave the country by the prosecutor in charge of the investigation.
The 56-metre yacht sank within 16 minutes of being hit by a downburst or tornado in the early morning of August 19. The ship is to be raised for investigation and to ensure that the 18,000 litres of fuel on board do not leak into the sea around the port of Porticello near Palermo.
Bids have been invited for the salvage, which will be paid for by Lynch's wife Angela Bacares' company, which owns the yacht.
Toxicology results for the seven victims are expected in the coming days. No alcohol or drug tests were performed on any of the crew members, the prosecutor said in a news conference after all the victims' bodies were recovered.
Lynch and his business partner Stephen Chamberlain, who died after being hit by a car on the day the Bayesian sank, were acquitted of fraud in a U.S. court in June 2024. The charges related to the sale of their company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard, which has said it will not drop its civil lawsuit for $4 billion in damages, now being heard in a British court.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of Mike Lynch's business partner.
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