Mike Lynch, a British tech mogul, has been declared missing after their luxury superyacht sank during a freak storm off Sicily early Monday.

Mr Lynch, alongside five other people, was acquitted in June in a big U.S. fraud trial.

He was also among six people who remained unaccounted for after their chartered sailboat sank off Porticello when a tornado over the water known as a waterspout struck the area overnight.

Although his wife and 14 other people survived.

Italy’s civil protection and authorities, which confirmed the incident, disclosed that one body had been recovered.

It also added that the police divers were trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was resting at a depth of 50 metres (163 feet) off Porticello, near Palermo, where it had been anchored, rescue authorities said.

According to the Italian coast guard, the crew had 10 people and 12 passengers on board.

A sudden fierce storm had battered the area overnight and struck the place precisely where the 56-metre (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian had been moored.

“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Salvo Cocina of Sicily’s civil protection agency.

Ms Cocina noted that another superyacht nearby wasn’t as badly damaged and helped rescue some of the 15 survivors, who included Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares.

The yacht, built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Navi, can accommodate 12 passengers in four double cabins, a triple and the master suite, plus crew accommodations, according to Charter World and Yacht Charters.

The vessel, which previously was named Salute when it flew under a Dutch flag, featured a sleek, minimalist interior of light wood with Japanese accents designed by the French designer Remi Tessier.