Two young women who were working as hostesses on the Bayesian superyacht when it sank have broken their silence about their horrific ordeal.
Leah Randall, 20, and Katja Chicken, 22, were on board the £30million ship when it was suddenly hit by a waterspout tornado at around 5am on Monday morning.
The crew escaped along with the yacht’s captain, New Zealander James Cutfield, and Angela Bacares, the wife of British tech magnate Mike Lynch, owner of the Bayesian.
Leah, who is from South Africa, and Katja, who is German, are staying at the Domina Zagarella hotel in Santa Flavia, which was used as a base by emergency services during the search and recovery mission.
The couple are in shock and tearfully told Italian media: “We are still alive thanks to a miracle.”
Leah Randall’s (pictured right) mother told Sky News: ‘I am so relieved that by the grace of God my daughter’s life has been spared’
Katja Chicken (in green) survived the hunting disaster on Monday along with co-host Leah Randall
The Bayesian storm (pictured) turned during a severe thunderstorm on Monday morning
In a trembling voice, one of the women told of their experience: “It was terrible,” the ANSA news agency reported.
It is said that they were in a state of distress and could not give further details.
This came after Leah’s mother Heidi Randall told Sky News: “I am so relieved that by the grace of God my daughter’s life has been spared.
“It doesn’t make it any easier to live with the grief of those who have lost their lives or are missing.”
Leah was photographed leaving Coast Guard headquarters yesterday with a crew member.
Other survivors included Irish woman Sasha Murray, 29, Matthew Fletcher, 41, from London, James Catfield, 51, from New Zealand, Myin Htun Kyaw, 39, from Myanmar, crew member Leo Eppel and Frenchman Matthew Griffith.
Tuesday night, two crew members, Tus Koopmans and Eaton Parker, were also named as survivors. No ages or nationalities were given.
From a hospital room in the town of Termini Imerese, near Palermo, Mr Catfied, in a state of grief and shock, could only utter one sentence.
“We didn’t see it coming,” he told La Repubblica.
Leah was photographed leaving Coast Guard headquarters yesterday with a crew member
Katja is seen leaving the Coast Guard headquarters after the sailboat disaster on Monday
All but one of the superyacht’s crew survived the disaster. The ship’s chef, a Canadian, was the first person found dead in the tragedy.
Today the bodies of two missing people – Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah – were found by search teams.
The tragic discovery was made while searching the wreck of the Bayesian.
The head of civil protection confirmed that the bodies had been identified as those of Mr Lynch and his daughter, before announcing that two more bodies had been found and would be recovered by divers.
Four other passengers have been missing since the sinking, and divers are desperately trying to gain access to the boat, hoping there may be survivors in the ship’s air pockets.
British tech magnate Mike Lynch with his wife Angela Bacares, who survived the disaster
Those still missing are Morgan Stanley CEO Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, and U.S. citizens Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, a jewelry designer. The body of a crew member, chef Recaldo Thomas, was found Monday.
The strange incident occurred while the 59-year-old, known as ‘Britain’s Bill Gates’, was enjoying a ‘victory tour’ to celebrate the win his US fraud trial over the Sale of its technology business Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for £8.3 billion.
Salvo Cocina, director of the Sicilian Civil Protection Agency, confirmed that two bodies were found in the wreck today and that divers have already brought them to the surface.
He would not confirm the identities of the victims or say whether they were men or women.
He said: ‘On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and express our sympathies and sympathy to them at this difficult time.’