A STATE OF SHOCK

Wife's torment awaiting news on husband & daughter | Vessel's captain: We did not see the storm coming.

- SASKIA ROWLANDS

THE anguished wife of missing British tycoon Mike Lynch was last night waiting for news as rescuers continued their perilous attempts to find survivors of the yacht tragedy off Sicily.

A hotel guest told the Mirror that Angela Bacares is in "a state of shock and sadness" as her husband and daughter Hannah, 18, are feared to have perished in the boat wreckage.

Angela, 57, is among 15 people who escaped the superyacht after it was battered by a tornado, or water spout, in the early hours of Monday.

Tech tycoon Mike, 59, and Hannah who had just landed a place at Oxford University - are feared to be trapped inside with four others.

The four are bank boss Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and wife Judy, 71; and lawyer.

Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda.

Members of the Italian fire and rescue service are working around the clock to bring their families answers but say furniture is blocking access to the cabins.

A body recovered near the yacht is Canadian-Antiguan chef Recaldo Thomas, the coastguard told Sky News. He was one of the 22 people on the vessel when it sank, and as of last night was the only person confirmed to have died.

His friend Gareth Williams said: "He was a well-loved, kind human being with a calm spirit." Terrifying details have emerged of how the horror unfolded footage CCTV shows the £ 30 million superyacht, called the Bayesian, being engulfed by the storm, causing it to sink in one minute.

Images from a property 200 yards from where the 183ft boat sank show the anchored vessel with its blinking lights just visible through the torrential rain. The homeowner said: "In just 60 seconds you can see the ship disappear." The boat's captain James Catfield told how he and crew members "didn't see [the storm] coming".