The Presumed Human Remains Discovered in Titan Sub Debris

United States – The remains of body parts were likely recovered from the wreckage of the submersible Titan, the United States (US) Coast Guard said. The discovery comes nearly a week after five people on the submersible were presumed dead after a "catastrophic explosion". 

"Body parts will be carefully recovered in the wreckage at the scene," the Coast Guard said in a news release, as reported by USA Today.

They added that US medical experts will also "conduct formal analysis of the remains of suspected human bodies."

"The evidence will inform investigators from multiple international jurisdictions as to the cause of this tragedy," said Marine Board of Investigation Chairman Captain Jason Neubauer in a statement. 

"There is still much work to be done to understand the factors that led to Titan's loss and help ensure a similar tragedy does not happen again." 

The announcement comes as the wreckage of the submarine finally returned to shore on Wednesday at a Canadian Coast Guard dock. Photographs from the dock in St. John's, Newfoundland, show several bent parts of the submarine.

The debris will be further analyzed and tested as part of the investigation into the cause of the explosion.

The investigation, which involves several government agencies from the United States and Canada, is being led by the US Coast Guard.

Search and rescue teams had found the wreckage on the seabed about 4 kilometers from Titanic's bow on June 22, four days after the ship was declared missing. 

Coast Guard officials said that the debris was "consistent with the loss of a very large pressurized chamber" inside the submarine. Five passengers died, according to OceanGate, the company that led the tourist mission and operated the vessel.

On Sunday, the Coast Guard announced that it was leading the investigation into the disappearance of the submarine. 

Rescue operations began on the seafloor, and the Canadian-flagged Arctic Horizon carried a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that searched the wreckage site 435 miles south of Newfoundland.

The five passengers on the submarine were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French oceanographer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and one of Pakistan's richest men, Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman Dawood. 

This is OceanGate's third annual expedition to Titanic, in which the company offers tourists the chance to be one of the few people to "see Titanic with their own eyes", according to the mission's archived itinerary. 

Each passenger has paid US$250,000 to see the wreckage.