PORTICELLO, Sicily -- PORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts were searching Tuesday for six missing passengers and crew, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily.

The sleek yacht, named the Bayesian, was carrying a total of 22 people, including 10 crew members and 12 passengers, when it suddenly sank off the coast of a Mediterranean island belonging to Italy around 4 a.m. on Monday. One body has been retrieved, and 15 people survived.

Fire rescue authorities have indicated that the six individuals thought to be inside the sailboat's hull will be considered missing until they are found in the wreckage.

Here is a summary of the known information regarding the sinking and the individuals who were on board.

Italian civil protection officials believe that a sudden and intense storm, which lashed the Sicilian coast in the early hours of Monday, created a waterspout precisely at the location where the 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian was moored.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht anchored nearby, stated that he saw the Bayesian during the storm. However, after the severe weather subsided, the yacht had vanished, and he only observed a red flare illuminating the night sky, according to reports from ANSA and the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper.

Borner, along with one of his crew members, boarded their tender and encountered a lifeboat carrying 15 individuals, some of whom were injured. They brought the survivors aboard their yacht and immediately contacted the coast guard.

Rescue officials reported that the wreckage was situated at a depth of 50 meters (163 feet) approximately half a mile off the coast of the picturesque fishing village of Porticello.

Among the missing is 59-year-old tech magnate Mike Lynch , often described as the British Bill Gates. Lynch was acquitted in June of all charges in a U.S. fraud trial related to the $11 billion sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Lynch still faced a potentially substantial financial obligation stemming from a civil lawsuit in London that HP largely prevailed in during 2022. The amount of damages in that case has yet to be determined, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch earned more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

Lynch, a Cambridge-educated mathematician, made his mark by leading Autonomy, a company that developed a search engine capable of meticulously examining emails and other internal business documents to assist companies in swiftly locating critical information.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was reportedly among the missing. His wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 other individuals survived.

Among those still unaccounted for on Tuesday, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo’s wife. Morvillo was known as a top-tier defense attorney and also served as a federal prosecutor in New York following the 9/11 attacks.

Also missing was Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy. He previously served as the head of the Autonomy audit committee and provided testimony in support of Lynch during his trial.

Bloomer also held the position of chairman for the Hiscox Group, an insurance company that conducts business within the Lloyd’s of London market.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event,” Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain stated. “Our thoughts are with all those affected, especially our chairman, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing. We extend our heartfelt condolences to their family as they await further updates regarding this devastating situation.”

Among the survivors was Charlotte Golunski, who recounted that she briefly lost her grip on her 1-year-old daughter Sofia while in the water. However, she managed to grab her daughter and hold her above the waves until a lifeboat inflated, enabling both of them to be rescued, according to Italian news agency ANSA. The father, identified by ANSA as James Emslie, also survived the ordeal.

The Dutch foreign ministry reported that a Dutch national had survived the incident. Citing privacy concerns, the ministry did not disclose the individual's identity.

One body was recovered on Monday, identified as belonging to the ship's chef.

The Bayesian was a luxurious yacht built in 2008 by the Italian company Perini Nav. It was known for its single 75-meter (246-feet) aluminum mast — one of the tallest in the world. Online charter platforms offered it for rent at rates up to 195,000 euros (approximately $215,000) per week.

According to the online maritime database Equasis, the vessel is registered to Revtom Ltd., based on the Isle of Man. Corporate registration documents from the Isle of Man list Lynch’s wife as the sole owner of Revtom.

The name of the yacht seems to refer to “Bayesian inference,” one of the two primary methods in statistical machine learning and the one utilized by Autonomy.

Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over bodies of water and can occur when a storm moves across warm water.

According to the U.S. National Ocean Service, there are two categories of waterspouts — fair-weather and tornadic.

Tornadic waterspouts “have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with powerful thunderstorms, and often come with strong winds and rough seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning,” the service states on its website.

While scientists haven’t directly linked this particular event to climate change, average monthly surface temperatures have been at record highs for months . Warmer air can hold more moisture, increasing the likelihood of heavier storms.

Sicily has been experiencing intense heat this summer , and the United Nations’ panel of climate change experts highlights the Mediterranean region’s vulnerability to climate change, with warming rates approximately 20% higher than the global average.

While the search for the missing individuals continues, authorities have already begun the task of reconstructing the events that led to the tragedy.

Prosecutors from the Sicilian city of Termini Imerese have initiated an investigation, as is standard procedure in such incidents even when no suspects are identified. As of now, they have not provided any public statements.

The British Marine Accident Investigation Branch announced that four of its investigators are being sent to Palermo.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands.