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One person has died and six more remain missing after a freak storm caused a tornado to sink a luxury yacht along the Sicily coastline.

Fifteen people were rescued from the wreck while eight of those saved, including a one-year-old child, were taken to local hospitals. All were in stable condition, Italian media reported.

The 180ft superyacht was caught in violent seas when a tornado hit the area off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, at around 5 AM this morning (Monday).

The group are reported to have been tourists on holiday in Sicily, and it is feared that those missing may have been trapped inside their cabins.

The vessel has been named the Bayesian – a luxury yacht which sails under a British flag and has the second-tallest mast in the world.

Coastguard ships and a helicopter have been sent in to search the wreck site above and below water, with divers having already reached the hull, which is located around half a kilometre from the coast and 49 meters below the surface.

Divers reportedly saw corpses through the portholes of the sunken vessel as the body of a man was recovered at a depth of around 50 metres.

#Palermo, naufragio imbarcazione a Porticello: recuperato dai #sommozzatori dei #vigilidelfuoco il corpo senza vita di un uomo, all’esterno del relitto. Proseguono le operazioni di ricerca con il coordinamento in mare della @guardiacostiera [#19agosto 11:30] pic.twitter.com/Y2m9o5ohCe

— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) August 19, 2024

The Bayesian was at anchor soon after two in the morning local time, according to nautical maps. It is believed that the boat made a stop at Milazzo, some 160 kilometres up the coast in the direction of the Italian mainland, before continuing on to Porticello.

A local Facebook page also shared a picture of the two yachts at anchor last night, just hours before the high winds hit.

Witnesses informed the Italian news agency ANSA that the ship was still anchored close to the port when the tornado hit.

‘That boat was all lit up,’ a man in Porticello told ANSA. ‘At around 4.30 in the morning it was gone.  A beautiful boat where there had been a party. A normal holiday spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy.”

‘The boat was not far from the port. It took very little to raise the anchor and head for the port. Evidently, they were surprised by the storm that suddenly hit and they were unable to avoid sinking.’

[source:dailymail]