19-year-old Titan sub passenger joined trip to please dad on Father's Day: report
A 19-year-old passenger went on a trip to the Titanic site, despite being "terrified," wanting to please his dad on Father's Day. He was in the Titan submersible that suffered a "catastrophic implosion"—and led to the likely instant death of five men aboard.
NBC News reported that Suleman told his aunt Azmeh Dawood, the older sister of the late 48-year-old businessman Shahzada Dawood, that he "wasn't very up for it" and felt "terrified" to explore the Titanic wreckage.
But Azmeh told the news outlet that Shahzada was "absolutely obsessed" about the lore of the Titanic, and his son wanted to please him.
"I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath ... It's been crippling, to be honest," she is quoted as saying.
"I feel disbelief," Azmeh added. "It's an unreal situation."
Shahzada was the vice chairman Karachi-headquartered conglomerate Engro and an adviser to Prince’s Trust International, a charitable organization founded by King Charles III.
Suleman, meanwhile, was a university student. They both hold British citizenship.
The submersible named Titan, which can dive up to 4,000 meters, disappeared on June 18 as it descended to the Titanic, which sits 3,800 meters below the ocean's surface.
The 21-foot Titan had been due to resurface seven hours after beginning its descent at 8 a.m. on that fateful Sunday.
But less than two hours in, the craft already lost communication with its mothership.
Casualties other than the Dawoods include British explorer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush, chief executive officer of the sub's operator OceanGate Expeditions.
The somber announcement ended the five-day multinational search-and-rescue operation that captivated the world.