5 People Dead Due to Underwater Explosion

By: Derrick Chen

5 People embarked on an exploration under the sea to see the Titanic Shipwreck on June 18th. They went missing soon afterward off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. They were in a submersible named Titan. A Submersible is a smaller submarine. While a submarine is self supporting, a submersible needs to be supported by a vessel on the surface.

Since 2021, there have been submersibles taking people down to see the wreck of the Titanic. These rides were organized by OceanGate, a company that provides submersibles for tourism. The 5 people onboard the submersible that went missing were British Millionaire Harnish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargolet, Pakistani businessman Shazada Wood, and his son Suleman. They lost contact with their support ship after one and a half hours under the water. They were 700 km away from Newfoundland at the time.

The very next day, rescue teams were sent to find Titan. Aircraft, ships, and underwater equipment were sent by governments. Coast guard members worked extra hard to try to find the 5 people knowing that they had limited oxygen left (about 96 hours). By Wednesday, the search had covered half the area of Nova Scotia. A Canadian aircraft heard a banging noise, though people are unsure if this noise had anything to do with Titan.

On Thursday, a remotely operated vehicle found a piece of the Titan about half a kilometer away from the Titanic. It showed evidence that an implosion happened. When an interview was conducted on John Mauger, the person who reported the finding of the debris, he said an investigation will start soon.