MIRACLE RAFT

Pics show tiny life raft that saved Bayesian survivors including baby as they crammed on screaming as yacht sank

The search mission continues in Palermo today with specialist divers deployed to the scene of the wreck

NEW pictures show the tiny life raft that saved 11 people after the Bayesian superyacht sank in Italy on Monday.

The £14million luxury vessel plunged more than 160ft to the bottom of the sea after it was toppled by extreme weather at around 5am on Monday.

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The small life raft up close in Porticello harbourCredit: Reuters
The emergency device was used to rescue 11 people from the wreck
The Bayesian sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily
Angela Bacares with her husband British tech billionaire Mike Lynch

The mast collapsed when it was hit by heavy storms and a tornado, causing the boat to capsize off the coast of Palermo, with four Brits and two Americans still yet to be found.

Fifteen people were rescued in total, with most of them clinging to the small orange life-raft as they were pulled from the water.

The yacht's chef, Ricardo Thomas, was confirmed dead after rescuers found his body near the wreck on Monday.

UK billionaire tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, are among the missing but his wife Angela Bacares, 57, was saved.

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British tourist Charlotte Golunski, 35, was also rescued with her one-year-old baby from the doomed yacht.

She managed to grab hold of young Sophia as the pair were forced into the Mediterranean amid rough weather and choppy waters.


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International chairman of bank giant Morgan Stanley, Brit Jonathan Bloomer, 70, is one of the six feared dead along with his wife Judy.

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And top New York lawyer Chris Morvillo, a solicitor at major firm Clifford Chance who worked for Mike Lynch, and his wife Neda, were also lost at sea.

The search for those feared dead entered its second day today with dramatic footage showing firefighters and divers scouring the water.

Specialist divers have been deployed from the UK government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch to help.

Although the 184ft yacht is lying "practically intact" on its side at the bottom of the sea, rescuers have been struggling to get into it.

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