TYCOON AND DAUGHTER MISSING IN YACHT TRAGEDY

TECH tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter were among six people feared dead after his superyacht was sunk by a freak tornado.

- Robert Kellaway

One man was killed when the £25million boat named Bayesian appeared to sink in minutes as it was anchored near Porticello, Sicily.

Fifteen of the 22 people on board were rescued, including Mr Lynch's wife Angela Bacares and a baby girl.

They managed to scramble to an inflated life raft. Mr Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah were among four British and two US nationals missing as divers tried to search the wreck 164ft beneath the surface.

Coastguards recovered the body of a man thought to be Canadian and working as the chef on board.

Mr Lynch, who was once dubbed Britain's Bill Gates with a fortune of £500million, was understood to be celebrating with family, friends and lawyers after being cleared of a multi-billion dollar fraud by a jury in San Francisco two months ago.

The entrepreneur had invited guests from legal firm Clifford Chance and his company Invoke Capital for the trip.

Mr Lynch's wife, 57, and a one-year-old girl were among those rescued from the 180ft-long yacht which was carrying the owner, 11 guests and 10 crew.

Ms Bacares is understood to have been treated for cuts and abrasions to her feet caused by glass shattering on board.

Italian media reported that she told doctors her husband and daughter were missing.

She also described how the boat tilted over at 4am waking her and her husband but they did not realise immediately how much danger they were in.

Meanwhile, Briton Charlotte Golunski, 36, told how she fought to protect her baby girl Sophia after fighting her way off the yacht and into the sea. She described how she momentarily lost her baby before finding her and managing to get them both to safety.

Charlotte said: "For two seconds I lost my baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves.