Sicily Yacht Victims Died of "Dry Drowning" After Running Out of Oxygen in the Cabin

More information has been shared on the deaths of the Sicily yacht victims.  

The initial autopsies of four of the seven victims who died when the Bayesian yacht sank last month—cook Recaldo Thomas, spouses Christopher Morvillo and Neda Morvillo, Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer as well as tech mogul Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah—have revealed they died of “dry drowning,” CNN reported, citing authorities.   

The finding suggests, per CNN citing local media reports, that these four victims—couples Christopher and Neda as well as Jonathan and Judy, per officials—had found an air bubble in the cabin in which they were found and had consumed all the oxygen before the air pocket turned toxic due to carbon dioxide.

The outlet further cited reports saying the autopsies for Mike and his 18-year-old daughter are likely to be carried out Sept. 6, while the autopsy for chef Recaldo is on hold due to difficulty in reaching his family in Antigua. 

E! News has reached out to the public prosecutor's office of Termini Imerese, which assigned the autopsies, as well as the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Policlinico for comment but has not yet heard back.  

It was previously confirmed that spouses Christopher and Neda died together, Italian news organization ANSA confirmed Sept. 2, and that the autopsies exhibited “no signs of trauma” and there are “no other causes linked” to their deaths.  

At the time of its Aug. 19 sinking, the 184-foot Bayesian yacht had 22 people aboard in total, including 12 guests and 10 crew members. The sinking, which has been described by maritime experts as anomalous, occurred due to harsh weather conditions, including a waterspout, Salvo Cocina of Sicily's civil protection agency told NBC News.

As Salvo noted of the ship, “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”  

In the weeks following the tragedy, captain James Cutfield has been placed under investigation for manslaughter following the incident, as confirmed by his lawyer Giovanni Rizzuti to NBC News. However, that does not mean he will face charges.

As NBC News noted, being placed under investigation in Italy does not imply guilt and does not guarantee formal charges will follow. Instead, notices need to be sent to people under investigation before authorities could carry out autopsies.

One of the survivors of the sinking Charlotte Golunski—who survived alongside her partner James Emsley and her 12-month-old daughter Sophie—previously detailed the terrifying moment the ship was hit by the storm. "

For two seconds, I lost my daughter in the sea, then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves," she told Italian newspaper La Repubblica one day after the accident, per the BBC. "It was all dark. In the water I couldn't keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others." 

(E! News and NBC News are part of NBCUniversal.)

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