British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the six people missing after the superyacht sank.
The yacht was owned by Mr Lynch.
Mr Lynch, known as the “British Bill Gates”, has been in the headlines in recent months over a high-profile fraud case.
In June, he was cleared of all charges by a US jury related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
He was extradited to the US to face trial in May last year and spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco as he awaited trial on 17 charges of conspiracy and wire fraud – later reduced to 15 charges – brought by the US Department of Justice.
He was acquitted alongside former finance executive Stephen Chamberlain, who had faced the same charges.
Mr Lynch was accused by HP of deliberately overstating the value of Autonomy, a business he founded and ran, before it was acquired by the American technology firm.
He always denied any wrongdoing.
Many of the survivors are ‘deeply disturbed’
Media houses have been speaking to a local mayor in Palermo who told her that many of the survivors are “deeply disturbed” by what happened.
“It was the middle of the night when this storm came in,” she says.
Six people are still unaccounted for, including the tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and at least three other Britons.
“We know 22 people were onboard when it was hit by severe weather in the early hours of this morning,” she adds.
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