Well, we guess this is the final piece of the search…
OceanGate‘s submersible exploring the Titanic wreckage was located after a four-day search last Thursday. It was determined from the discovery of sub debris that Titan had suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all aboard. Obviously the fate of the ship would be shared by its passengers. They were bolted in, with no way to escape.
But we imagine some loved ones wouldn’t get full closure until the actual bodies of the deceased were found. It took nearly another week, but that day appears to be the case today.
The US Coast Guard said in a statement that after days, pieces of Titan wreckage recovered from the seafloor have been moved to a site in St. John’s Newfoundland. They mentioned that medical professionals will be performing “a formal analysis of presumed human remains that have been carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident.”
Related: OceanGate Sub Passengers Being Honored At Titanic Museums
“Presumed human remains.” That means along with the broken pieces of carbon fiber, wiring, and glass, they also found… Well, whatever is left of the passengers, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son Suleman, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. Frankly it sounds like a much more gruesome discovery than they’re willing to describe. Probably for the best. Just horrible.
MBI Chair Captain Jason Neubauer explained the coming investigation in a statement:
“I am grateful for the coordinated international and interagency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths. 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.”
The Coast Guard press release also mentions an upcoming “public hearing regarding this tragedy.” Obviously some experts already think they know what happened. But it’s important we learn for certain, mostly to keep this from happening again — but also because there may be some legal responsibility involved here.
And of course we hope, for the sake of the passengers’ families, that they are able to confirm with absolute certainty that they have found everyone who went down with the ship.
[Image via LiveNOW From Fox/OceanGate/YouTube.]
