The 5 tragic minutes that sank a superyacht

PORTICELLO, Italy — Survivors of a storm that sank a superyacht off the coast of Sicily described their ordeal to one of the doctors who rushed to their aid. Some said it took only minutes for the 180-foot-long vessel to sink.

Dr. Fabio Genco, head of Palermo's emergency services, told NBC News in a phone conversation Thursday that he arrived in the coastal village of Porticello before dawn on Monday, about an hour after the $40 million Bayesian yacht sank in the violent and sudden storm.

Of the 22 people on board, 15 survived despite the storm and darkness. They climbed into a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby sailboat. The crew members have not yet made any public statements, but some have been questioned by investigators.

“They told me it was very dark, that the yacht pulled itself up and then sank,” Genco said, repeating what the survivors told him. “All the objects fell on them. That's why I immediately checked by asking them if they had any internal injuries,” he said.

It seemed like they had only minutes to abandon the sinking ship, Genco said.

“They told me they were suddenly catapulted into the water without knowing how they got there,” he said. “And the whole thing seems to have lasted three to five minutes.”

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini Navi, the Bayesian shipyard, told Sky News there were no flaws in the yacht's design or construction. He said its structure and keel make boats like this one “unsinkable bodies”.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, he denied any responsibility and instead blamed the crew. “Mistakes were made,” he said.

Genco said one of his colleagues who arrived at the scene before him initially believed only three people had survived, but the coast guard reported there were more survivors and additional rescue workers were called.

When Genco arrived, he found scenes of panic and despair.

“Unfortunately, we are used to such scenes of panic because we are used to the shipping accidents on Lampedusa,” said Genco, referring to the island southwest of Sicily, where wrecks of boats carrying migrants by sea from North Africa to Italy are often found.

Six of the passengers were reported missing on Monday and by Thursday the bodies of five others had been recovered from the wreckage, which lies about 50 meters underwater.

Among the survivors is Angela Bacares, the wife of British technology mogul Mike Lynch, whose body was recovered on Thursday.

Another survivor was identified as 35-year-old Charlotte Emsley. She told Italian news agency ANSA that she briefly lost hold of her one-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but managed to rescue her and hold her above the waves until a lifeboat was inflated and they were taken to safety.

Dr Domenico Cipolla of the Di Cristina Children's Hospital in Palermo is also part of a medical team treating survivors of the shipwreck. He told the BBC on Wednesday that Emsley and her daughter, as well as the child's father, who Cipolla said also survived, are continuing to receive psychological help.

“Psychological care was and still is continuous, because in these cases it is the wounds of the soul that need healing the most,” said Cipolla.

Genco also told NBC News that he was particularly worried about the child. “She didn't understand anything. She was soaking wet and cold,” he said.

Karsten Borner, the Dutch captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a yacht anchored near the Bayesian, said by phone Wednesday that he saw a thunderstorm approaching around 4 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET) on Monday, followed by what appeared to be a waterspout, a type of tornado that forms over water.

The International Center for Waterspout Research noted on X that a “waterspout eruption” occurred off the coast of Italy on Monday, the day the Bayesian sank.

“I started the engine and carried out maneuvers to avoid colliding with the Bayesian, which was anchored about 100 meters away from us,” said Borner. “Then suddenly it disappeared. Then the wind died down, we looked around and saw a red flare.”

Borner said he climbed into his boat's dinghy and saw a life raft with 15 people on it. Crew members were providing first aid.

“I don't know why it sank so quickly, but it might have something to do with the mast, which was incredibly long,” he said. Questions have been raised about whether the mast was responsible for the accident, as tall masts, even with sails down, have a larger surface area exposed to the wind, which can contribute to a ship capsizing in a storm.

Surveillance camera footage that emerged on Tuesday shows the yacht's 250-foot mast – believed to be one of the tallest aluminum sailing masts in the world – being buffeted by the storm and appearing to lean to one side before disappearing.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.