What are believed to be human remains from the Titan submersible that imploded with five passengers inside while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic will be brought to the U.S. for examination.
“United States medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of presumed human remains that have been carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement Wednesday.
Debris from the ocean floor was delivered to St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada earlier that day. That “evidence” will be delivered to the U.S. aboard a Coast Guard cutter.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the submersible to implode, killing a quintet of adventure seekers who paid $250,000 each for the opportunity to see the remains of the Titanic cruise ship that sank after hitting an iceberg in 1912.
Navy intelligence picked up acoustic signals indicating either an implosion or explosion took place near when and where Titan is believed to have run into trouble.
Marine experts questioned whether anything would be found when the 22-foot submersible lost communications with the above-water world shortly after the vessel began its June 18 journey.
Four days later, a massive search concluded that all five people onboard had died. Pieces of the ill-fated sub were found 12,500 feet below the ocean’s surface, roughly 1,600 feet away from the bow of the ship that its passengers came to see.
The victims were Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, British billionaire Hamish Harding and CEO Stockton Rush, whose OceanGate Explorations company operated Titan.
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