Possible human remains found in submarine wreckage

2023-06-29 03:44:00

Debris from the submarine was unloaded in Canada (photo: Shutterstock) Possible human remains were found amidst the wreckage of the submersible Titan, reported the US Coast Guard. The materials will be analyzed by physicians in the United States. Pieces of the submarine, which imploded on a deep-water voyage to the Titanic and killed five people, were unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic in St John’s, Canadathis Wednesday (6/28).
Coast Guard officials say the submarine’s support structure and an aft cover were found among the wreckage. The agency is in the early stages of an investigation into the causes of the Titan disaster. The U.S. Coast Guard has advised that the Navy’s Board of Investigation will transport the evidence found to a U.S. port for further analysis and testing.

Jason Neubaue, who is leading the Titan investigation, said in a statement that the evidence gathered will provide “investigators in various international jurisdictions with critical information about the cause of this tragedy.” He said “there is still a lot of work to be done to understand the factors that led to Titan’s catastrophic loss and to help ensure that a similar tragedy does not happen again”.

All five people aboard the submersible died on June 18 after it imploded about 90 minutes into a dive to view the famous 1912 wreck, which lies at a depth of 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) in the North Atlantic.

The passengers were the head of OceanGate, which organized the dive, Stockton Rush, 61; British explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Shahzada Dawood, 48, and her son, Suleman Dawood, 19; and French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77.

So far, the Coast Guard says five major pieces have been found below the surface in a large debris field near the Titanic’s bow. The wreckage brought to the mainland on Wednesday appears to include the two covers, including the submarine’s hatch without the window, as well as the landing legs and aft equipment compartment, according to BBC News science correspondent Jonathan Amos.