Manslaughter investigation launched after Mike Lynch's death

According to a translation of Public prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio's press conference today, an investigation has been launched into the cause of the death of seven people off the coast of Sicily.

He told a press conference: “The Termini Imerese prosecution has opened a case hypothesising the crime of shipwreck and of manslaughter but we are only at the initial stage of the inquiry so far.”

He added: “I have to emphasise that the development of the inquiry could actually be of any sort imaginable.”

Former Autonomy boss Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah Lynch were found in searches of the sunken yacht.

Hannah and Mike Lynch who died in the tragedy off the coast of Sicily (Image: Lynch Family) The bodies of six people were recovered from cabins on the left side of the yacht after it had sunk, the chief of the Palermo fire service said.

Girolamo Bentivoglio said, through a translation provided by the BBC, that specialised divers attempting to retrieve the bodies had to deal with “very little visibility due to the weather conditions” and were called in from across the country as part of a search-and-rescue operation which involved “some 70 people” each day.

READ MORE: Mike Lynch's family devastated after bodies recovered

He added: “The yacht obviously pinned to the right and obviously the (people) tried to go on the other side and then took refuge in their cabins.

Hannah Lynch's body was found Friday morning (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire) “We found four or five bodies in the cabin on the left and there was another one in the third cabin on the left too, and obviously they were in the higher part of the wreck.

“Obviously, emergency procedures were implemented by the divers and obviously we installed cameras and involved further divers.

“And we involved obviously helicopter services and other surveillance cameras.”

The yacht capsized during a storm on Monday morning with 22 passengers on board. 

Dr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares and 15 others were rescued after escaping on a lifeboat.

Suffolk tech tycoon Mike Lynch is thought to have been celebrating his recent acquittal (Image: Andy Abbott) It is believed the yacht trip was a celebration of Dr Lynch's recent aquittal in a US fraud case, marking the end of a 13 year legal battle.

Tributes have poured in for the Wickham Market businessman and his daughter.

Hannah’s sister Esme paid her own tribute, saying: “Hannah often burst into my bedroom and lay down with me.

“Sometimes beaming with a smile, sometimes cheeky, sometimes for advice.

“No matter what, she brought boundless love to me.

“She was endlessly caring, passionately mad, unintentionally hilarious and the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me.

“And on top of all this, she had even more love to give endlessly to all her friends and passion to give to her incredible studies and goals.

“She is my little angel, my star.”