Bodies found in search for Mike Lynch, his daughter and friends on sunken yacht off coast of Sicily

Five bodies have been found inside the wreck of the luxury yacht that sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily.

Reports suggest that the body of Cambridge entrepreneur Mike Lynch is among them, but his daughter Hannah is still missing.

The head of Sicily’s civil protection agency Salvatore Cocina has confirmed that two bodies had initially been found on Wednesday, followed by two more later in the afternoon. A fifth was found in the wreck later in the day, and was recovered and brought to shore on Thursday morning.

It means one person remains unaccounted for, and the Italian coastguard has confirmed the final person yet to be found was a woman.

Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda Morvillo, have been missing, along with Dr Lynch and 18-year-old Hannah, since the Lynchs’ yacht, the Bayesian, sunk at around 5am on Monday in a storm.

Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew on board – including Dr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping onto a lifeboat.

The body Recaldo Thomas, a chef who was working on the boat, was recovered on Monday (19 August).

Inspections of the yacht’s internal hull took place on Wednesday morning.

A team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) also arrived in Porticello to look at the site of the sinking.

The MAIB is looking into what happened because the yacht Bayesian was flying a British flag, it is understood.

The Italian Coastguard said the MAIB is not involved in the search for the missing people, and that it has not been requested to assist.

A helicopter was drafted in to help the search effort, as divers from the local fire service were seen entering the water with torches attached to their headgear.

A police boat and divers were also seen entering the water on Wednesday afternoon.

Fire crews from the Vigili del Fuoco said they have been accessing the vessel through natural entrances, without making openings.

Remotely controlled underwater vehicles are being used, with naval units and cave divers also taking part in the search, the Italian Coastguard has said.

Bayesian was moored around half a mile off the coast of Porticello when it sank.

Dr Lynch, who founded software giant Autonomy in Cambridge in 1996, was cleared in June of conducting a massive fraud relating to an $11bn (£8.64bn) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.

The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal, with some of those who had helped him, or represented him in the case, invited to come along.