The father of a passenger onboard the superyacht sunk by a storm in Sicily has spoken out about the chilling text message he received from her.
On Monday (August 19) at around 5:00am, a 'violent' storm hit just off the coast of Sicily and a luxury yacht called the Bayesian sunk.
The yacht was carrying 22 people and six - at the time of writing - remain missing.
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The superyacht had 10 members of crew, alongside 12 passengers onboard - including the 'British Bill Gates' Mike Lynch, his wife, their 18-year-old daughter, alongside members of the legal team which represented Lynch and helped him get cleared of 15 counts of fraud which he faced after Silicon Valley giant Hewlett-Packard purchased his company Autonomy for $11.1 billion in 2011.
Recaldo Thomas - the yacht's on-board chef - has been confirmed dead with 15 others rescued and six currently remain missing.
And the text message of a passenger onboard who survived the incident has since been revealed by her father.
Ayla Ronald, who is originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, was one of the guests on board the superyacht as 'part of the legal team' who'd worked on Lynch's defence, her father, Lin Ronald, told The Telegraph.
He said: "[They] were invited to go sailing as a result of the success in the recent United States court case."
Shortly after the storm hit and the boat sank, Lin received a chilling text from his daughter which read: "She has said to me that there are deaths, and she and her partner are alive."
Indeed, one person has been confirmed dead and when questioned about the likelihood of others being alive, the Italian Coastguard's Vincenzo Zagarola said, as quoted by Sky News: "Never say never, but reasonably the answer should be not."
He continued: "We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea.
"Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly.
"We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat."
Local media reports have since revealed rescue teams have entered the superyacht's hull by smashing through a window.
Yesterday, Giornale Di Sicilia reported divers had managed to enter the hull but have not yet been able to reach the cabins as a result of some entrances potentially being blocked.
Investigations have since been launched by Italian officials and the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch into why the Bayesian sank.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677
Topics: Travel, World News, Bayesian yacht
Poppy Bilderbeck