Scramble to find survivors after Bayesian yacht sinks off Sicily coast

One person died and six people were missing after a luxury yacht sank Monday in Italy off the coast of Palermo, the capital of Sicily, after a sudden storm hit the area, according to Italy's coast guard.

The Bayesian, a 184-feet-long, British-registered sailboat, went down just before sunrise, capsizing its 22 passengers and killing one man, the ship's cook, the coast guard said in a statement. The people missing were American, British, and Canadian nationals.

Of the 15 passengers rescued, eight were taken to a local hospital for treatment and were in stable condition, local news reported. A 1-year-old was among those rescued.

"We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily and are in contact with the local authorities," the U.K Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY.

What caused the Bayesian to sink?

The ship sank after unexpectedly strong storms recently dumped heavy rainfall, causing flooding and landslides, in parts of the country. Among those missing was British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, a person familiar with the rescue operation told Reuters.

The yacht was owned by Lynch's family and had 22 people on board when it sank just before sunrise. The captain of a nearby ship told Reuters his crew rescued some survivors from a life raft, including three seriously injured.

"We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone," Karsten Borner said. The other boat "went flat on the water, and then down," he said.

"A little baby and the wife of the owner" were rescued, while the ship's owner and a child were missing, he said.

The boat was located 160 feet under the water and divers were deployed to inspect the wreck, according to the coast guard.

The search-and-rescue operation continued on Monday morning, a Reuters live feed showed. A helicopter and four coast guard ships were at the scene on Monday morning, according to the coast guard.

Bayesian had set sail off Amalfi Coast in July

Prosecutors in a nearby town have opened an investigation into the events leading up to the ship sinking.

The Bayesian set off for Palermo from Positano, a village on Italy's southern Amalfi Coast, on July 30, according to marinetraffic.com. It last docked in the town of Milazzo, in Messina, on Wednesday, according to VesselFinder.

The ship has the tallest aluminum mast in the world, according to Perini Navi, its manufacturer. It was built in 2008.

Contributing: Reuters