Human remains were likely recovered from the Titan submersible wreckage, the U.S. Coast Guard announced Wednesday night, nearly a week after five people aboard the submersible were presumed dead after a “catastrophic implosion.”
(USA Today).- The remains were “carefully recovered within the wreckage at the site of the incident,” the Coast Guard said in a news release, adding that U.S. medical professionals will “conduct a formal analysis of presumed human remains.”
“The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy,” Marine Board of Investigation Chair Capt. Jason Neubauer said in a statement. “There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”
The announcement came as debris from the vessel returned to land Wednesday at a Canadian Coast Guard pier. Photos from the wharf in St. John’s, Newfoundland, show what appeared to be several pieces and twisted chunks of the submersible.
The debris will be further analyzed and tested as part of the investigation into why the vessel imploded. The investigation, which involves several government agencies from the United States and Canada, is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Search and rescue teams had found debris on the sea floor about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic on June 22, four days after it vanished.
Coast Guard officials said the debris was “consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber” in the submersible. The five passengers were killed, according to OceanGate, the company that led the tourist mission and operated the vessel.
US Coast Guard leads Titan investigation
On Sunday, the Coast Guard announced it was leading the investigation into the loss of the submersible.
Salvage operations started on the ocean floor, and the Canadian-flagged Horizon Arctic carried a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that searched the wreckage site 435 miles south of Newfoundland.
The company that owns the ROV, U.S.-based Pelagic Research Services, confirmed Wednesday that its team had completed offshore operations and was now removing its equipment from the Horizon Arctic after “working around the clock for 10 days.”
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