Further details about the passengers of the OceanGate's Titanic submersible have emerged days after its disappearance.

Businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood were among the five Titan passengers presumed dead June 22, after officials found evidence consistent with an implosion taking place during their dive.

Suleman had initially been hesitant to go on the trip, telling a relative he felt "terrified" about the underwater excursion, according to his aunt Azmeh Dawood.

Explaining that her nephew "wasn't very up for it" at first, Azmeh recalled to NBC News that the teen ended up going on the trip because it fell on Father's Day and he wanted to please his dad Shahzada.

"I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath," Azmeh said on June 22. "It's been crippling, to be honest."

Calling the situation "unreal," she added, "I feel like I've been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn't know what you're counting down to. I personally have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them."

The Titan lost contact with the surface approximately an hour and 45 minutes into its June 18 dive, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Fearing that the crew would run out of oxygen, a massive search-and-rescue mission for the sub was launched.

However, officials confirmed on June 22 that rescuers found debris from an external part of the submersible "consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber."

"This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor," First Coast Guard District commander Rear Adm. John Mauger said during a press conference. "The debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel."

All passengers aboard the Titan are presumed dead, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans," OceanGate said in a statement. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew."

Source:
courtesy of E!ONLINE

by GABRIELLE CHUNG

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