What is the meaning of dry drowning? Autopsies of victims who died on billionaire Mike Lynch's yacht released

Tragedy struck in August 2024 when billionaire Mike Lynch's yacht sank off the coast of Italy. The luxury yacht went down on Monday, August 19, leading to the death of seven passengers. The victims who lost their lives include British tech titan Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, an onboard cook, American lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo, Morgan Stanley banker Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Anne Elizabeth Judith Bloomer.

The autopsies of Chris and Neda Morvillo, along with Anne and Jonathan Bloomer, were conducted on Wednesday, September 3, showing that they died of "dry drowning." Dry drowning is a phenomenon that occurs when people drown without any presence of water in their lungs, tracheas, or stomachs. Local media reports suggest that the victims dry drowned due to an air bubble in the cabin turning toxic.

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Mike Lynch's guests passed away due to dry drowning

As mentioned earlier, seven people lost their lives when billionaire Mike Lynch's luxury yacht, the Bayesian, sank off the Sicilian port of Porticello, Italy, on August 19. On Wednesday, the autopsies of four victims, Chris and Neda Morvillo, along with Anne and Jonathan Bloomer, were performed at the Forensic Medicine Institute of the Palermo Polyclinic Hospital.

The autopsy report indicated that the four passengers, all guests at Lynch's boat, passed away due to dry drowning. Also known as atypical drowning, a spokesperson for the lawyer of the captain of the ship stated that dry drowning occurs when people drown without any water in their stomachs, tracheas, or lungs.

The prosecutor in charge of the investigation put forth a theory last month that the victims might have died while searching for an air pocket. The dry drowning autopsy report prompted local media outlets to suggest that the four victims may have passed away after finding an air bubble.

Local reports suggested that the victims might have used up all the oxygen from the air bubble, later filling it up with toxic carbon dioxide. Pediatric emergency medicine doctor Purva Grover, MD, was quoted by the Cleveland Clinic as stating that dry drowning was not a "real medical term."

Emergency medicine doctor Jason Milk, DO, explained to the outlet that, sometimes, when people struggle to come up for air underwater, they experience a reflex called a laryngeal spasm. This causes their airways to shut off, rendering them unable to breathe despite water not entering their lungs. Milk told Cleveland Clinic:

"The injury happens from a lack of air and asphyxiation."

Earlier on Saturday, the victims were all scanned for physical injuries that might've led to their deaths, but none were found in the process. The autopsies of the 59-year-old Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are all set to be conducted on Friday, September 6, 2024.

Apart from Lynch and his guests, the yacht's onboard chef, Recaldo Thomas, also lost his life in the tragedy. However, no date has been set for Thomas' autopsy due to the difficulties in locating his family in Antigua.

Twenty-two people were onboard the 184-foot British-flagged ship when it came into contact with a violent storm off the coast of Sicily. Sixteen minutes after the boat was struck by the storm, it capsized and sank. Fifteen people were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard.

Among the rescued was Mike Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, whose company owned the yacht. Bacares suffered abrasions on the soles of her feet as a result of the incident. According to Italy's La Republica, the 57-year-old woke up the morning of the crash, showered in broken glass, and cut her feet on the scattered glass while making her escape.

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The Bacares company will pay for the operations to salvage the wreckage. Bids have already been sent out for the same.