‘We didn’t see it coming’: the tumultuous Sicilian night that took down the Bayesian

Witnesses tell of ‘absurd tragedy’ and a mother describes how she fought to save her child from drowning

The 12 holidaying passengers had come from the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland, occupying six luxurious suites of Bayesian, a 56-metre-long superyacht boasting the tallest aluminium mast in the world. Among the 10 crew members were people from Sri Lanka.

The award-winning, British-flagged vessel, which was built in 2008 by the Italian shipbuilder Perini and managed by Camper & Nicholsons, left the calm blue waters of the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August, sailing for a few days around the Aeolian Islands and off the historic coastal village of Cefalù.