‘Presumed human remains’ recovered in debris of imploded Titanic sub
28 June 2023, 23:16 | Updated: 28 June 2023, 23:49
Presumed human remains have been recovered from the Titan sub wreckage, the US Coast Guard has said.
It comes after debris from the Titanic submersible were brought ashore on Wednesday after it imploded and killed all five passengers aboard.
The US Coast Guard said in a statement: "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."
Jason Neubauer, a captain with the Marine Board of Investigation, said: "The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy.
"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."
Investigators searching the debris field on Monday said they were "taking precautions" in case they discovered the passengers' bodies.
Read more: First photos show Titanic sub debris brought ashore after craft imploded killing all five aboard
Pelagic Research Services, whose remote operating vehicles (ROV) found the debris fields, said on Wednesday that its team is “still on a mission” and were not able to comment on the investigation.
Pictures released on Wednesday showed workers moving a panel with a complex set of wiring and tubes as the debris was brought in at a Canadian Coast Guard pier at St John's in Newfoundland.
The submersible was taking five passengers down to see the wreck of the famous passenger liner but it vanished on Sunday, June 18.
A debris field was later found close to the Titanic's wreck, which was said at the time to have included a landing frame and a rear cover from the sub.
Richard Garriott, president of the Explorers' Club and friend to passenger Hamish Harding, said the field debris field implied a "break up of the submersible at depth… a catastrophic failure, an implosion".
On the Thursday after the sub disappeared, Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard said the five passengers had died.
He said their deaths were likely the result of a "catastrophic implosion" that happened on the Sunday.
An investigation into what happened to the OceanGate Expeditions vessel has since been opened, with experts believing it imploded.
British billionaire Hamish Harding was aboard, along with Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer, Shahzada Dawood, a UK-based Pakistani businessman who was a board member of the Prince's Trust charity, his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, who went to Strathclyde University in Glasgow, and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate.
