Debris has been found in the search for the Titan submersible.
A “debris field” has been discovered within the search area for the missing submersible Titan by a remotely-operated vehicle near the wreckage of the Titanic, the US Coast Guard said.
Glasgow student Suleman Dawood, 19, is one of the five passengers onboard the vessel.
He had just completed his first year at the Strathclyde Business School before embarking on the journey with his father, Shahzada, 48.
The US Coast Guard said experts were “evaluating the information” after the debris was found.
According to reports, it was the "landing frame and cover" of Titan which were found in the search for the vessel.
David Mearns, a UK-based marine scientist and oceanographer who specialises in searching for shipwrecks, and who is a friend of British billionaire Hamish Harding who is aboard the missing craft, told Sky News and the BBC the debris is from Titan.
Mearns told Sky News he had been contacted by the president of The Explorers Club, which Harding belongs to, saying: “It was a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.”
The US Coast Guard said it was not commenting on what the debris consisted of.
The Coast Guard had said earlier on Thursday that it is still treating the mission as an “active search and rescue”, despite hopes fading as the expected 96-hour oxygen supply onboard dwindled.
A press conference will be held at the Coast Guard base in Boston to “discuss the findings” at 8pm UK time.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, First Coast Guard District commander, and Captain Jamie Frederick, First Coast Guard District response coordinator, will lead the press conference.
