A prosecutor in Italy has launched a manslaughter probe into the death of British tech magnate Mike Lynch, and six others who died when a luxury boat sank near Sicily last week.

Ambrogio Cartosio is the head of the public prosecutor’s office in Termini Imerese. He announced the investigation and said it was not directed at a specific person. Hannah Lynch, 18, was also one of the victims when the Bayesian boat, a 56-metre (184-foot-long) vessel owned by Lynch and his family, capsized in a violent storm before dawn on Monday near Porticello.

The Bayesian was owned by Lynch's company, as well as the captain of the yacht.

The coast guard has questioned the captain James Cutfield, and other survivors on behalf of the prosecutors. They have not publicly commented on the cause of the sinking.

Divers who had been searching the submerged vessel over the last five days discovered Hannah Lynch's corpse on Friday. The bodies of five other passengers who were found dead on Wednesday and on Thursday were discovered, while that of Recaldo, the chef onboard, was recovered on Monday.

Experts in naval marine say the sinking is a mystery. They claim that a boat such as the Bayesian built by Italian luxury yacht builder Perini should have been able to withstand the storm, and should have at least not sunk so quickly. Reporting by Giulio Piolovaccari, Writing by Frances Kerry and Kirsten Donovan

(source: Reuters)