When reports of the luxury yacht’s capsizing began to emerge on Monday morning – immediate thoughts turned to survivors – “please let everyone be okay,” people thought.
But news of the first death – Recaldo Thomas – the talented on-board chef with an extensive yachting career – came within hours of the incident.
This was a tragedy from the beginning.
Following news of Recaldo’s body being pulled from the water came the names of the missing and with that, the rescue mission countdown began.
Time was not on their side, but they were to do their best and stay hopeful.
In Porticello, we watched an army of emergency services assemble on the harbourside.
Coastguard members, search and rescue teams including divers, police officers and members of the fire service – all of their vehicles parked bumper to bumper. Tents were erected with desks and chairs within the hour.
In the scorching heat, they started their delicate work. Meanwhile the port side opposite swelled with onlookers.
A tiny fishing village became the centre of a rescue effort with international interest overnight.
The media presence was sizable but so was the local people’s pack too.
The village of Porticello is quaint and picturesque.
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It’s famous for fishing and little else – there’s a cafe and two restaurants on the square. You can’t find a pharmacy or supermarket within a four-mile radius.
It’s tiny and relatively remote – many here just speak the district dialect and Italian. One fisherman, not even the latter.
So when a huge incident unfolded on their doorstep, they were astounded. It was the talk of the village – everyone had a tale of seeing the yacht moored on the coastline the night before – looking majestic.
By the time the emergency services descended on the marina – suddenly it became a grim spectacle for the whole village, which was both in awe at the rescue effort and heartbroken by what it was watching unfold.
The search and rescue operation has been impressive to observe.
Divers, clearly drained from the difficult and tiresome task, returned to the port side makeshift headquarters every so often to dry off their wetsuits.
We learned the main coastguard vessel was acting like a mobile command centre so divers would take it in turns to swap swifts on-board.
The white vessel spent the search days at the shipwreck site, circling the area again and again and standing by for updates.
One skipper brought us to the site to have a closer look at the work. We had to keep 200 metres away but it was enough to get a sense of how close the vessel was to the marina and shoreline before it capsized.
It was very strange to be on the water that day, bobbing on the calm sea in the glistening sunshine, knowing the vessel was some 50 metres below you.
The recoveries started happening on Wednesday – Mr and Mrs Bloomer and Mr and Mrs Morvillo were found together.
Mike Lynch was brought ashore later that same day and then Thursday came the news that divers said upset them the most, when they finally found 18-year-old Hannah Lynch.
The mood shifted each time a body bag came ashore. We all knew who they had been looking for – seen their faces and heard their stories – so watching each recovery was met with silence from the crowd. Some respectfully bowed their heads or looked away.
Once everyone had been found – Sicilian prosecutors, who said they have been compelled into updating the public on their investigation because of international interest, revealed this would be a complex case.
The 15 survivors will likely live with the memory and trauma of what happened off the coast of this island forever.
What was a celebratory trip for the passengers and the crew the owners knew so well, has ended in the most tragic of ways.
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