Divers yesterday tried in vain to gain access to the inside of the sunken 56-metre luxury vessel Bayesian, where rescue crews believe those missing may have been trapped.
Those unaccounted for are the tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his teenage daughter Hannah Lynch, the Morgan Stanley International bank chairman, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy Bloomer, the lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
Rescuers said they were working on the assumption that the boat sank quickly after being hit by a waterspout in a storm at about 5am on Monday. Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian coastguard confirmed there had been no sign of the missing passengers more than 36 hours into the rescue mission.
He said: "We do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly. We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out." Asked about the likelihood of them being alive, he said: "Never say never, but reasonably the answer should be not."
The national director of Italy's firefighting department divers, Giuseppe Petrone, told the Guardian his team of specialist divers had managed to locate a breach in the boat's hull and was working to open a passage to reach the cabins, where they hoped to find the bodies of the missing.
The divers - who have arrived from Rome, Sassari, Cagliari and Palermo - are hampered by debris obstructing the boat's cabins and they need to surface after 11 minutes because the wreck is lying about 50 metres below the surface.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 21, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 21, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
First mass 24-hour event to help people put down their phones
Haunted by a pile of unread books? Or taunted by outdoor kit lurking in the cupboard? If you are one of the British adults who spends on average five hours a day looking at screens rather than participating in pastimes, perhaps it's time to join the offline revolution.
No longer the king of bling The staggering fall of rap star Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Center is, for the foreseeable future, home to Puff Daddy, AKA Sean Combs, one of the best-known voices in American entertainment and whose business empire once seemed to know no bounds.
Brandenburg stakes Last-minute push by German far right in key regional election
B jörn Höcke shielded his eyes from the lights as he peered from the stage into the crowds gathered on a square in front of a gothic church in central Cottbus.
'It's guerrilla war' The fire teams facing arson chaos in Amazon
The occupants of the military tents at this remote jungle camp in Brazil's wild west T survey the hellscape surrounding them.
"The horror of it' Trial of husband and 50 men accused of wife's rape shakes France
On the narrow streets of stone houses with pastel-blue shutters, residents of Mazan were appalled that this picturesque village in Provence was being referred to in the media as \"the village of the rapists\".
West End revival Will a traffic ban lure shoppers back to Oxford Street?
From the rooftop of John Lewis's flagship store, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, laid out the changes planned for Oxford Street below: \"We want a public realm that is world class, green, healthy and safe but also increases footfall in the shops.\"
Live and let fly James Bond chopper firm awaits decision on £1bn deal
The Merlin helicopter sitting on a factory floor in Yeovil is a sight familiar to James Bond aficionados from the climactic shootout of the 2012 film Skyfall.
Mental illness is Britons' biggest health concern, survey finds
Mental health has overtaken cancer and obesity as the health issue that is the biggest cause of concern for most Britons, a global survey reveals.
Noise, crime, crowds Rise in tourism stokes tensions in bustling Lake District town
Even on a weekday afternoon at the very tail end of summer, Bowness-onWindermere is bustling with life. Outside the town's pubs and bars, drinkers sip lager and sparkling wine in the warm September sun.
EU's new proposals on youth mobility will put Starmer 'reset' to test
Fresh proposals to allow young people to move between Britain and the EU will be presented to the British government within weeks, in what is seen as a significant early test of Labour's \"reset\" in relations with Brussels.