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China News Service, August 20. According to Reuters, a luxury yacht sank after encountering a storm in the waters near Sicily, Italy in the early morning of August 19 local time, killing one person and leaving six others missing, including the well-known British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter.

On August 20, 2024, local time, in the waters near the city of Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily, a drone photographed emergency rescue vehicles and personnel at the port near the site where a luxury yacht sank.

The Italian Coast Guard said in a statement that the wrecked yacht was flying the British flag, was about 56 meters long and had 22 people on board. It was in the waters near Palermo, the capital of Sicily, when it suddenly encountered bad weather.

"The winds were strong and bad weather was forecast, but it was not that severe," a Coast Guard official told Reuters.

Fifteen people, including a 1-year-old baby, were reportedly rescued. The names of the dead and missing were not immediately released, but a person familiar with the rescue operation confirmed that Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were missing.

The Italian Coast Guard said the missing people were British, American and Canadian nationals.

The report pointed out that experts said that Italy has experienced weeks of heat waves and has recently been hit by storms and heavy rains. The temperature in the Mediterranean has reached record levels, increasing the risk of extreme weather.

Lynch, 59, is one of the most famous technology entrepreneurs in the UK and is known as the "British version of Bill Gates". He founded the software company "Autonomy" and sold it to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. Lynch was charged with fraud in the United States for the deal, but was acquitted in June 2024.