A community in north Sligo expressed relief on Wednesday after learning Irish woman Sasha Murray had escaped Mike Lynch’s Bayesian, the luxury yacht which sank off the coast of Italy.
Many locals were unaware that the young woman had been working aboard the yacht but said they were very thankful that a popular local family who had endured tragedy in the past had been spared further heartbreak.
“They are good neighbours and a very respected family,” said next-door neighbour Dessie Carway who runs the Sligo Sea Barn beachfront tourist accommodation in the Maugherow area said
He said when she was a very young child Sasha lost her father Fionn Murray and grandfather Holger Schiller when their light aircraft crashed after taking off from Strandhill airport.
Fionn Murray, a native of Sligo, had been well known in motor racing circles and had come second in the 1990 Brands Hatch Festival, regarded as the world championships of Formula Ford racing. He was just 33 when he died in 1998.
“She lost her father and grandfather on the same day so it is a great relief that her family don’t have to deal with any more tragedy,” said Mr Carway. “You’d imagine that a guardian angel somewhere was watching over her”.
He said everyone was so relieved for Sasha’s mother Jessica, brother Kilian and grandmother Erika that she has survived.
Sasha was one of 15 people who were rescued when the luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in a freak weather event on Monday. It has been reported that she sustained an injury to her right leg.
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and five others are feared to have died, with their bodies trapped inside the luxury yacht which sank in a tornado on Monday.
Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coastguard said this was the working theory of officials on Sicily because it is believed the boat sank quickly and search and rescue efforts by sea and air have so far delivered no results.
Her grandparents Holger and Erika Schiller holidayed in Co Sligo in the 1970s and after falling in love with place, moved from Germany and bought and renovated Ardtarmon Castle, in north Sligo. The Schiller family also run an estate agent’s Schiller and Schiller.
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Local Independent councillor Marie Casserly also welcomed the news, saying she was very relieved for the family.
“Thank God she is safe. The family has had so much tragedy that this is very welcome news that Sasha has survived,” she said.
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