One dead, Britons missing after yacht sinks off Italian coast

One man has died and six other people are missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning, the Italian fire and rescue service has said.

The 56m (183ft) yacht was flying a British flag and Britons are among those missing, Italy’s coastguard reported.

The 22 people onboard included 10 crew and 12 passengers, some of whom were American and Canadian nationals. Emergency services rescued 15 people including a one-year-old British girl.

Local media reported that the yacht, sailing under the name Bayesian, sank after encountering a heavy storm overnight that caused water spouts to appear over the sea.

A waterspout is a whirling column of air and mist, similar to a tornado. They can form over oceans, seas or large lakes.

Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa that the Bayesian’s anchor was down when the storm struck, causing the mast to break and the ship to lose its balance and sink.

A wreck has been identified at a depth of 50m, the fire and rescue service said, with divers searching for the missing people.

The body of the man who has been confirmed dead was found outside the wreckage. His nationality has not yet been confirmed.

The one-year-old British girl was brought to shore by a firefighter who handed her over to authorities to be transported to hospital, Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra reported, quoting a hospital official.

The young girl underwent tests at the hospital out of an abundance of caution, but is said to be fine.

Eight of those rescued are receiving treatment in hospital, the Italian coastguard said.

A statement from the Italian coastguard said that before emergency services arrived a nearby boat offered assistance. Italian media reported it was a Dutch-flagged sailing vessel.

A local fisherman told Reuters news agency he had seen people being rescued by an inflatable boat dispatched from another yacht.

Footage from the wreckage site showed helicopters circling over several coastguard vessels as divers wearing bright orange descended into the water.

The western half of the Mediterranean has seen frequent severe storms since the middle part of last week, with low pressure dominating.

Through Sunday night and into Monday morning a clutch of intense storms passed by the north coast of Sicily.

The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the incident and in contact with local authorities.

The Bayesian’s publicly available onboard tracker last transmitted near Porticello, just after 04:00 local time – shortly before rescue efforts reportedly began.

The ship is managed by Camper and Nicholsons International. A spokesperson told BBC Verify that they are currently “dealing with a situation onboard one of [their] managed vessels”, but would not confirm which vessel, or any further details.