A university community has been left “profoundly saddened” by the death of one of its students who was on board the Titan submersible, its principal has said.
Londoner Suleman Dawood, 19, a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, was on board the vessel with his father, businessman Shahzada Dawood.
They, along with three other men, died in the Titan submersible’s “catastrophic implosion” during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal and vice-chancellor of the university said: “We are shocked and profoundly saddened by the death of Suleman Dawood and his father in this tragic incident.
“The entire Strathclyde community offers our deepest condolences to the Dawood family and all those affected by this terrible accident.
“Our student wellbeing team remains on hand to offer appropriate support to Suleman’s classmates and the wider Strathclyde community at this difficult time.”
The university confirmed on Thursday that the teenager was a business school student who had just completed his first year.
It is understood that the family were already spending a month in Canada before the father and son made the dive.
The student told relatives that he was “terrified” to go on the ill-fated Titan submersible and only attempted the 12,500 foot dive to please his father who was “very passionate” about the Titanic.
Suleman’s aunt Azmeh Dawood told NBC News that her nephew informed a relative he was “very not into doing it”.
“Suleman had a sense that this was not okay and he was not very comfortable about doing it,” she said.
“But it was a Father’s Day thing. It was a bonding experience and he wanted the adventure of a lifetime just like his father did.
“His father wanted it and that was Sule all the way - he’d do anything for anyone.”
Suleman and his father belong to one of Pakistan’s most prominent families.
Mr Dawood, 48, is vice-chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, and a long-time adviser to the King’s charity, Prince’s Trust International, with a focus on its work in Pakistan.
He lived in Surbiton, south-west London, with his son Suleman, wife Christine and daughter Alina, according to the Telegraph.
Relatives of the Dawoods urged well-wishers to keep their “departed souls and our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning” as they also thanked the rescue operation.
They added: “The immense love and support we receive continues to help us to endure this unimagineable loss.”
The US Coast Guard confirmed the tail cone of the deep-sea vessel was discovered about 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic wreckage during a press conference in Boston.
Rear Admiral John Mauger said further debris was also found, in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, that was “consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”.
OceanGate Expeditions said its pilot and chief executive Stockton Rush – along with UK citizens Hamish Harding, Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet, “have sadly been lost.”
