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Everything We Know About the Final Moments of the Passengers Who Died in the Sicily Yacht Tragedy

Five of the seven victims had been "searching for air pockets" as the luxury yacht sank on Aug. 19, authorities said

PERINI NAVI PRESS OFFICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The luxury yacht Bayesian that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday, Aug. 19, resulted in the deaths of six passengers and one crew member.

Less than a week later, on Saturday, Aug. 24, Ambrogio Cartosio, the Chief Prosecutor of Termini Imerese, announced that Italian authorities were launching a manslaughter investigation into the sinking , and he identified all of the victims.

The seven victims who died in the tragic sinking were yacht chef Recaldo Thomas; British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, Hannah Lynch; Christopher Morvillo and his wife, Neda ; and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy .

As authorities attempt to answer questions about what exactly led to the sinking of the 183-foot British-flagged vessel — which went down during a "violent storm,” the Italian Coast Guard previously told PEOPLE in a statement — here is what we currently know about the victims’ final moments.

FAMILY HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

During the Aug. 24 press conference, Girolamo Bentivoglio Fiandra, head of the Palermo Fire Brigade, revealed that as the Bayesian began going down early Monday morning, “It was quite clear that people were trying to hide in the cabins.”

“In the left-hand side, we found the first 5 bodies in the left-hand side cabins, and the final body on the right-hand side,” Fiandra said. “We found them on the highest part of the ship, which was closer to the surface. The vessel had three cabins on each side.”

The five victims, who "took refuge” on the luxury yacht’s left side, had been "searching for air pockets" in a final attempt at survival," he added.

HANDOUT/Vigili del Fuoco/AFP via Getty

As for why the victims were in the cabins in the first place, Giovanni Costantino — who leads The Italian Sea Group, the company that now owns Perini Navi, which built the Bayesian back in 2008 — told CNN it was due to a “very long sum of errors."

"Everything that has been done reveals a very long sum of errors,” he said in his interview, translated from Italian. “The people should not have been in the cabins, the boat should not have been at anchor. And then why didn't the crew know about the incoming disturbance?”

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Prior to the storm and subsequent sinking, some of the luxury yacht’s passengers were in celebration mode. They had been commemorating the recent acquittal of one of the victims, Lynch, 59, a source close to the survivors previously told PEOPLE.

Two months ago, Lynch was acquitted on all counts of a series of fraud and conspiracy charges he faced in the U.S. after a years-long legal battle dating back to 2018.

Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty

He celebrated the acquittal on the Bayesian with his daughter and his wife, Angela Bacare, who was rescued along with 14 others on board.

Also celebrating were Morvillo, 59, who represented Lynch in the case, and Bloomer, 70, who was a close friend of the tech entrepreneur.

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Five bodies found inside superyacht that sank off Sicily

PORTICELLO, Sicily — Divers recovered four bodies Wednesday from inside a superyacht that sank in a sudden storm off Sicily , Salvatore Cocina, director of the island's Civil Protection Agency, confirmed to NBC News.

Cocina later confirmed to Sky News that a fifth body had been found and was being brought to shore. One passenger remains missing.

The identities of the bodies were not immediately released. Their recovery follows a dayslong search in the deep waters off Italy where British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and several others were believed to be trapped in the hull. Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived.

The rest had been missing since early Monday, when the Bayesian was caught in the storm anchored off the coast of Porticello, a village near the Sicilian capital city, Palermo.

The body of the ship’s cook, identified as Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian Antiguan national, was recovered Monday.

On Wednesday, NBC News witnessed what appeared to be at least three body bags being lifted from fire department boats after they pulled into port at Porticello. It was unclear whose bodies they were. Some were later transferred to ambulances and driven away from the dock.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah; Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, are also missing.

The Bayesian is owned by a firm linked to Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who was among the survivors rescued by a nearby vessel after they got into a lifeboat.

Built by the Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi in 2008, the U.K.-registered yacht could carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10, according to online specialist boating sites. Its nearly 250-foot mast is the tallest aluminum sailing mast in the world, according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters.

Regularly described in U.K. media as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” Lynch was acquitted of fraud by a San Francisco jury this year, stemming from the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011.

The Mediterranean sailing vacation was designed to be a celebration for Lynch, who brought Bloomer, who testified in his defense, and Morvillo, one of his U.S. lawyers, on the trip.

Lynch's co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain was not aboard the Bayesian, but in what appears to be a tragic coincidence, a car struck and killed him Saturday as he was jogging in a village about 68 miles north of London, local police said.

Claudio Lavanga and Claudia Rizzo reported from Porticello. Henry Austin reported from London.

Claudio Lavanga is Rome-based foreign correspondent for NBC News.

Claudia Rizzo is an Italy based journalist.