Search still on for missing Sicilian

The search went on yesterday for Gianvito Sieri, 18, who disappeared on Sunday after the boat he was on was hit by a Maltese-registered yacht in Marsala, Sicily.

The newspaper La Sicilia reported that Italian port officials and civil protection personnel took part in the search, which also involved a helicopter.

Four Maltese nationals, a man and three women, were on board the yacht Gypsy, the Malta Maritime Authority said yesterday.

In a statement, the authority said that its Merchant Shipping Directorate was investigating the collision.

On the small boat with Sieri were his cousin Vito Milazzo, 12 and his uncle Gaspare Ingianni, 60. The three were fishing. Milazzo and Ingianni suffered only minor injuries.

It was one of the Maltese on board who alerted the police through a mobile phone.

The Gypsy was on its way to San Vito Lo Capo, one of the most beautiful bays in Sicily, after it left a beach at San Leone.

The police have interrogated the Maltese tourists in a bid to learn how the accident happened.

None of the Maltese was injured.

The yacht, also owned by a Maltese, sustained very little damage, the MMA said.