Body of Hannah Lynch found off Sicily

Rescuers scouring the wreckage of the superyacht that sank off the Sicilian coast have brought ashore the body of the last person missing from the luxury boat, believed to be the daughter of a British tech magnate.

The body of Mike Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was discovered early Friday — the culmination of a challenging five-day rescue operation.

NBC News later witnessed a body bag being taken ashore from a boat in Porticello, a port near the Italian island’s main city, Palermo.

The family had been apparently celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges in the United States with people who defended him at the trial. But the 184-foot Bayesian went down during a freak storm while anchored off the coast of Palermo early Monday.

Fifteen people were rescued, but six others were declared missing. Divers brought out the bodies of five of them from the ship’s wreck Thursday, with one of them identified as Lynch. One other body, of the ship’s cook Recaldo Thomas, was recovered shortly after the accident.

A spokesperson for the Lynch family said Friday: “The Lynch family is devastated, in shock and is being comforted and supported by family and friends. Their thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy. They would like to sincerely thank the Italian coastguard, emergency services and all those who helped in the rescue. Their one request now is that their privacy be respected at this time of unspeakable grief.”

As the massive search and rescue effort neared its end Friday, attention was turning to the investigation into exactly what caused the tragedy.

The accounts of survivors that have emerged through the Italian medics who treated them have suggested the sinking took place in mere minutes and came as a shock.

The ship’s designer said in interviews that he believes the incident could have been caused by human error.

The local prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation, and has scheduled a news conference Saturday.