Authorities believe they recovered human remains within the Titan submersible wreckage that was pulled from the North Atlantic and unloaded at a port in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, on Wednesday.
An American medical team will analyze the remains as the U.S. Coast Guard begins a high-level investigation into the cause of the Titan’s implosion last week, the branch said in a statement.
“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy,” Coast Guard Capt. Jason Neubauer said of the debris pulled out of the ocean on Wednesday. “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.”
The submersible had been missing for days after it went silent June 18 while attempting to dive to the Titanic wreck site 2.5 miles down on the ocean floor. Authorities and experts now believe Titan suffered a catastrophic loss of pressure, leading to an implosion that killed all five passengers aboard.
The passengers aboard Titan included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61; British aviation businessman Hamish Harding, 58; retired French navy commander Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; and British Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.
A Marine Board of Investigation, the highest level of inquiry within the Coast Guard, is underway and could ultimately recommend anything from new regulations on deep-sea diving to criminal charges for authorities to pursue, Neubauer, who is leading the investigation, said Sunday.
This is a developing story.
