Four Yacht Victims Likely Died After Depleting Air Pocket In Sunken Italian Ship: Reports

Four of the seven people killed when a luxury yacht sank off Italy’s coast last month likely died after depleting a pocket of air they had found while trapped inside the submerged ship, according to several reports.

Autopsies found that the victims — Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda — likely died from suffocation following the Aug. 19 sinking, Reuters reported Thursday citing judicial sources.

None of these four victims, who were found in the same cabin, had water in their lungs, suggesting they didn’t drown, the BBC also reported citing Italian news agency Ansa.

This type of death was described as “dry drowning,” which is when all of the available oxygen is consumed, leaving only carbon dioxide, CNN similarly reported citing local media.

The autopsies of two of the other victims, British tech star Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, are expected to take place on Friday. The autopsy of the ship’s onboard chef, Recaldo Thomas, has been delayed pending contact with his family in Antigua, CNN reported.

The 184-foot British-flagged ship was carrying 22 people when it was hit by a violent storm while anchored off the coast of Sicily in the early morning hours, causing it to capsize and sink within minutes, authorities previously said.

Of those on board, 15 were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard. The survivors included Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who Reuters previously reported owns the firm that the yacht is listed under.

The group had been celebrating Lynch’s recent acquittal of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the $11 billion acquisition of his software maker Autonomy to Hewlett Packard in 2011, survivors have said.

An investigation remains underway into the cause of the ship’s sinking, including whether it was caused by human error.