The British university who was one of the five passengers killed in the Titanic submarine "implosion" was "terrified" about going on the trip and only agreed to please his dad for Father's Day, it has been revealed. Suleman Dawood, 19, accompanied his billionaire father Shahzada Dawood on the ill-fated Titan sub but was hesitant to go, his aunt has revealed.
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were among the five victims who tragically lost their lives instantly after the OceanGate submersible suffered a "catastrophic implosion" approximately 1,600 feet away from the bow of the wreckage of the Titanic, US Coast Guard said.
A Death No One Desired
Suleman's aunt, Azmeh Dawood, told NBC News that her nephew had expressed his reluctance to go on the trip, stating that he "wasn't very up for it." However, he felt compelled to fulfill his father's wishes as his father had a deep passion for the historic Titanic shipwreck.
"I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath... It's been crippling, to be honest," the devastated aunt and sister told the outlet from her home in Amsterdam.
"I feel disbelief," the older sister of Shahzada Dawood, who was the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, reportedly said as she cried. "It's an unreal situation.
"I feel like I've been caught in a really awful film, with a countdown, but you didn't know what you're counting down to," Azmeh continued. Like the other worried relatives, Azmeh was hoping for a miracle till Thursday afternoon, the Dail Mail reported.
It was difficult for her to breathe when she thought about them, she admitted, and she added, "It's been unlike any experience I've ever had."
Azmeh Dawood also claimed that she would not have boarded the Titan submersible, even if offered a million dollars. She also mentioned that she had lost contact with her brother, Shahzada Dawood, in recent years.
Azmeh herself has been dealing with primary progressive multiple sclerosis since 2014 and has been "reduced to being in a wheelchair" as a result of the condition.
Azmeh had relocated from England to Amsterdam in order to have better access to medical cannabis, a decision that was not supported by her family members, including her brother.
However, Azmeh was reminded of her deep affection for her brother upon learning the devastating news. "He was my baby brother, I held him up when he was born," she said.
Azmeh expressed a strong bond with Suleman, describing him as a genuinely kind-hearted person.
Suleman's grandparents Hussain and Kulsum Dawood paid tribute to their cherished grandson and son, expressing their profound grief over their "unimaginable loss."
Lost Never to Be Found Again
The other three tourists who lost their lives in the incident include Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate; Paul-Henri (PH) Nargeolet, a former French Navy veteran and Hamish Harding, a British billionaire.
The fanatic search for the five people on the submarine drew to a devastating close after a Canadian ship found debris from the vessel on the ocean floor.
According to search and rescue authorities, it is believed that the five passengers likely died on Sunday, prior to the detection of potential distress signals in the water by military planes equipped with sonar buoys.
US Coast Guard officials reported the discovery of five significant pieces of debris from the OceanGate submersible approximately 1,600 feet away from the wreckage of the Titanic which sank in 1912.
The cause and timing of the implosion that occurred during the descent of the submarine to the ocean floor, which is approximately 12,500 feet deep, remain unclear.
"The implosion would have generated a significant, broadband sound that the sonar buoys would have picked up," Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard said at a press conference on Thursday.
"A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic," Rear Admiral John Mauger said, adding a "Smaller debris field within the debris field," had been found by Odysseus 6K, an ROV made by Mass. based Pelagic Research Services, which had been launched from the Canadian ship Horizon Arctic.
The Coast Guard also stated that the recovered debris, along with associated information, is currently undergoing evaluation and assessment.
According to rescue expert David Mearns, who had been in touch with people close to some of the victims, the group was informed that the recovered debris consisted of "a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible."
"Again, this is a very unconventional submarine. That rear cover is that pointy end of it and the landing frame is this little frame that it seems to sit on ... that confirms it's the submersible," Mearns, who was friends with billionaire Harding and Nargeolet, told Sky News.
OceanGate informed the Coast Guard that the Titan submarine had a limited oxygen supply of 96 hours when it submerged near the coast of Newfoundland, initiating a race against time to locate the vessel and its five occupants.
The passengers were sealed inside the submersible with 17 bolts securing the hatch from the outside. Initial speculation suggested that the submersible might be trapped within the Titanic wreckage, but still intact at a depth of 12,500 feet, with oxygen running out.
The US and Canadian Coast Guards worked together to conduct the fanatic search, and numerous other countries also sent hundreds of ships to the area to help in the search.
This was one of the main issues with the rescue efforts was the depth since no successful rescue has ever been made deeper than 1,750 feet below the surface.
