Canadian authorities are collecting DNA samples from the families of the five people killed in the Titan submersible implosion last month in order to help identify remains in the case. According to a report by The Mirror, diving teams were able to recover pieces of lost sub and what they believe to be human remains as well. They now hope to test the DNA in those remains to give the families closure and confirm the identities of the deceased.
Rescue and salvage teams were able to collect debris from the Titan implosion from the ocean floor and unload it in St. John’s, Canada on Wednesday. They believe they found the vessel’s landing frame and rear cover, as well as some human remains. The Titan was carrying five men on a recreational dive to the shipwreck of the Titanic on June 18 when it suffered a catastrophic failure and imploded. Although all five passengers are already presumed dead, investigators hope that identifying their remains will give their families some closure.
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Canadian authorities are also investigating this tragedy to determine if any laws were broken in getting this submarine in the water. A source at the Canadian Coast Guard told The Mirror: “The team are determined to build as big a picture as possible into how Titan came to explode. Not only will they be looking into how the sub failed in a structural sense, but they also want to determine what happened to all those on boards using forensics.”
“All those investigating want to bring as much closure as possible to the families to provide them with as much comfort as possible,” they continued. “The hope is that by taking DNA, it will help identify who the remains belong to if proven to be from the men.”
The Canadian coastguard has arranged for medical professionals to analyze the remains found this week, and to transport them to the U.S. for further testing. The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch Transportation is involved as well. The wreck of the Titanic is located in the Atlantic Ocean. The infamous ship scraped an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage from the U.K. to the U.S. in 1912.
The Titan submersible was operated by a company called OceanGate and was carrying CEO Stockton Rush at the time. Paying passengers included British billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani investor Shahzada Dawood and Dawood’s 19-year-old son Suleman. OceanGate’s tours of the undersea remains of the wreck are expected to resume next year.
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BOSTON, MA – JUNE 13: Stockton Rush, OceanGates chief executive, spoke at a press conference said during a press conference next to the Cyclops 1, a five-person sub that was used by OceanGate to capture detailed sonar images of the Andrea Doria shipwreck. This summer marks the 60th anniversary of the Andrea Doria's sinking, and it was the first time in 20 years that a manned submersible explored the site. OceanGate for the first time ever captured high-definition video footage and 2-D and 3-D sonar images of the legendary Andrea Doria. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
