Sicily yacht tragedy leaves Porticello reeling as divers search wreck

The British ambassador to Italy, Ed Llewellyn, told me he had visited the survivors and heard their anguish.

“It underlines what a desperately sad and distressing situation they found themselves in,” he said.

“My heart, and I’m sure that of the whole country, goes out to them. We will do whatever we can practically to help in this very difficult and heartbreaking situation.”

He confirmed that marine investigators sent from the UK had arrived in Sicily and were working with their Italian counterparts on a preliminary assessment.

Local prosecutors have also opened an investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy – and if anything could have been done to mitigate it, including closing the ship’s hatches overnight.

The yacht’s captain, James Catfield, from New Zealand, told Italian media of the suddenness of the waterspout that turned a luxury super yacht into a death trap. “We just didn’t see it coming”, he said.