The US Coast Guard has revealed that presumed human remains have been recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic tourist submersible that imploded with five passengers on board. Wreckage from the Titan submersible operated by OceanGate was earlier recovered from the ocean floor near the Titanic, following a fatal implosion which killed Glasgow student Suleman Dawood.
The Strathclyde Uni student and his dad Shahzada were killed on board the deep-sea vessel alongside British adventurer Hamish Harding, OceanGate Expeditions’ chief executive, Stockton Rush, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet. As reported by the Mirror, US medical officials will conduct formal analysis of the remains, which were discovered when debris from the craft was recovered from the ocean floor on Wednesday.
Images emerged on Wednesday of large pieces of debris from Titan after they were transported to shore in St John’s, Canada. The pictures showed a crane unloading the wreckage from the Horizon Arctic ship in the city’s harbour.
Captain Jason Neubauer, Chair of the Marine Board of Investigation said in a statement: “I am grateful for the coordinated international and interagency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths. The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy.
“There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”
Pelagic Research Services – whose remote operating vehicle (ROV) discovered the debris fields – said on Wednesday its team is “still on mission”.
A statement read: “They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones.”
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said they are looking into the five deaths. After it docked in St John’s harbour on Saturday, safety investigators from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada made inquiries on Titan’s main support ship, the Polar Prince.
The Titan submersible lost contact with tour operator OceanGate Expeditions an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent to the wreckage, with the vessel reported missing eight hours after communication was lost.
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