(CNN) — Rescuers were on Monday searching for six people missing after a luxury yacht was hit by a tornado and sank off the coast of Sicily, killing one of the 22 people on board.
The vessel was hit by the tornado at around 5 a.m. Monday, according to a spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard. The yacht was anchored about a half a mile from the port of Porticello on the Mediterranean island.
Four Britons and two Americans are among those missing, the spokesperson said.
Fifteen people have been rescued from the scene and one child was airlifted to the children’s hospital in Palermo. Eight people were hospitalized in total, according to the mayor’s office. One body was found on the hull of the yacht, the Coast Guard said.
A small and localized tornado – known as a waterspout – spun over the area Sunday through Monday and likely caused the boat to sink, according to a report from the European Severe Weather Database.
Other strong storms across Sicily brought torrential rainfall late Sunday, dumping more than 4 inches (100 mm) of rainfall, in the Brolo, east of Palermo, in less than four hours.
The weather forecast had warned of potential strong winds, with storms across the entire southern region of Italy Sunday, the Coast Guard spokesperson added.
The captain is among the survivors, the spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard said.
The 56-meter yacht called the “Bayesian,” which flies under a British flag, had mostly British passengers and crew, in addition to two Anglo-French, one New Zealander, one Irish and one Sri Lankan, the spokesperson told CNN.
The Italian fire brigade said its divers had reached the yacht’s hull 49 meters (160 feet) below sea level, according to a press statement. The brigade also dispatched helicopters to bolster the search operation.
The captain of a nearby boat said he turned on his engine to avoid crashing into the Bayesian, Reuters reported, as fierce gales swept the area.
“This morning we got this strong gust and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position,” he told reporters on Monday. “After the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone.”
One survivor, Charlotte, 35, described how she battled to hold onto her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, reported Italian news agency ANSA, as a barrage of waves sank the yacht.
“In two seconds I lost the baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amidst the fury of the waves. I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy,” she told journalists. “Many were screaming.”
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