‘Presumed human remains’ found in wreckage of Titan submarine
On Wednesday, the US Coast Guard reported the recovery of presumed human remains from the remnants of the Titan submarine, which suffered an implosion during a dive to the Titanic wreck, resulting in the loss of five lives.
The agency stated, “United States medical professionals will carefully analyze the presumed human remains that have been recovered.”
Among those aboard were Hamish Harding, a British explorer; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French submarine expert; Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani-British tycoon, and his son Suleman; and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the sub.
It is believed that they perished instantly when the Titan sub, comparable in size to an SUV, collapsed under the immense pressure of the North Atlantic at a depth exceeding two miles.
The damaged debris from the small submersible was unloaded earlier in the day in eastern Canada, bringing an end to a challenging search and recovery mission.
The wreckage will now be transported on a US Coast Guard cutter to a US port for further examination, as stated by the organization.
Captain Jason Neubauer, leading the US investigation into the tragedy, remarked, “There is still substantial work to be done in comprehending the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and in preventing a similar tragedy in the future.”
Television footage displayed the lifting of what appeared to be the Titan sub’s nose cone and a side panel, with exposed electronics and wires, from a ship onto a flatbed truck at a Canadian Coast Guard terminal in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Pelagic Research, the New York-based company that owns the Odysseus remote-operated vehicle used in the search for the ill-fated submersible, announced the conclusion of its offshore search and recovery operation.
Canadian officials declined to comment on the retrieval of the submarine debris.
The Titan was reported missing on June 18, and last Thursday, the US Coast Guard confirmed the deaths of all five individuals on board the submersible following the vessel’s catastrophic implosion.
A debris field was discovered on the seabed, 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, which rests over two miles (nearly four kilometers) beneath the ocean’s surface and 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
The announcement of the implosion marked the conclusion of a multinational search and rescue mission that captivated global attention since the tourist vessel went missing.
The Coast Guard has initiated its highest level of investigation, a Marine Board of Investigation, into this incident.
Agence France-Presse
