Nineteen-year-old Suleman Dawood, who was aboard the ill-fated Titan submarine, had expressed concerns about the trip to the wreck of the RMS Titanic, according to his aunt, Azmeh Dawood.
In an interview, Azmeh revealed that her nephew initially had concerns and even described feeling terrified about the underwater expedition.
Despite his reservations, Suleman ultimately decided to join the trip on Father’s Day to please his passionate father, Shahzada Dawood, who had a deep interest in the Titanic’s history.
Azmeh shared her disbelief and described that he “wasn’t very up for it”, noting that the emotional toll has been overwhelming for her. The tragic incident involving OceanGate’s submersible, the Titan, occurred during a dive on June 18.
The submersible lost contact approximately one hour and forty-five minutes into the dive, with five passengers on board, including Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
A search-and-rescue operation was launched by the US, France, and Canada in collaboration, as the oxygen on board was expected to run out.
Ocean Gate tragedy is trending on twitter in many countries, many expressed their concerns regarding the incident.
However, on June 22, officials confirmed that debris from an external part of the submersible was found, indicating a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.
The US Coast Guard declared all passengers presumed dead and expressed condolences to the families affected. Rear Admiral John Mauger stated that further debris supported the notion of a catastrophic incident.