Seven people are missing after a yacht with 22 people on-board – including Irish citizens and other tourists – sank off Sicily during bad weather.
It is not believed any of the Irish passengers are missing.
Fifteen people were rescued from the 49m (160ft) sailing boat by coastguard boats and firefighters, including a one-year-old child.
Italy’s ANSA news agency reported four British people, a Canadian and two Americans were missing. The incident occurred at about 5am on Monday in waters off Palermo, during a fierce storm that brought a whirlwind and rough seas to the area.
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Rescue divers are trying to reach the hull, which sank to some 49m.
The infant, a boy, arrived at the hospital with his mother, who sustained minor injuries. All 15 rescued people are in good condition.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the department is aware of the incident and is providing consular assistance.
“As with all consular cases, the department does not comment on the details of any specific case,” she said.
The Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported the boat was flying a British flag and had mostly British passengers on-board, but also people from New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland and British-French citizens.
ANSA said the boat, which it said was named Bayesian, was moored in the port at Porticello and had set sail on Sunday evening.
The luxury ship, built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008, has an aluminium hull, can reach a maximum speed of 15 knots and can carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10, according to online specialist yacht sites.
The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on August 14th and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “at anchor”, according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder. – Agencies