The ‘next 24 hours are critical’ in the search for survivors of the capsized yacht

The “next 24 hours are critical” in the search for the missing survivors of the capsized yacht of the Sicilian coast.

An engineer who was involved in the salvage operations for the capsized Costa Concordia Nick Sloane told Sky News that survivors could be trapped in air pockets inside the yacht.

Divers are facing “prohibitive” conditions and the mission leader Marco Tilotta, the inspector of the Palermo Fire Department told Sky News the Bayesian superyacht is lying on its side which is “without any tears.”

“Our job is to help people and hope to find them alive, but clearly the conditions are prohibitive,” he said.

“In our entire careers as divers, these are events that are clearly difficult to prevent and therefore truly unlikely and difficult to manage.

“I don’t dare think of what the people who were there on board experienced.”

Diver have opened the hull on the superyacht, Italian media is reporting and the divers and rescue teams are face with a complex rescue.

Sloane told the broadcaster, “They’ve got a very small window of time to try to find people stuck inside with hopefully an air pocket, and they could be rescued.

“You’ve got a maximum of two to three days to try to get someone one, so the next 24 hours are critical.

“If the yacht is on its side, it might have more air pockets than if it’s upright. She’s got quite a large keel, and that will deflect and put her on her side, I’m sure.”