OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - U.S. Coast Guard has recovered presumed human remains from the debris of the submarine that imploded during a dive to the deep sea to explore the Titanic shipwreck.
The Coast Guard said the debris and evidence recovered from the seafloor at the site of the Titan submersible was unloaded by the Canadian Anchor Handling Vessel M/V Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John's, Newfoundland, on Wednesday.
The Coast Guard said that after consultation with international partner investigative agencies, the Marine Board of Investigation, which is conducting the probe, will transport the evidence to a U.S. port.
U.S. medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of the presumed human remains.
'The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy,' said MBI Chair Captain Jason Neubauer. '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,' he said in a press release.
The MBI will continue evidence collection and witness interviews to inform a public hearing regarding this tragedy, the Coast Guard said.
OceanGate's Titan submersible with five people on board left St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, on June 18, and contact with the small underwater vessel was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into the sea.
After an extensive search and rescue effort by multiple agencies from various countries, wreckage of the Titan submersible was located on the ocean floor approximately 500 meters off the bow of the Titanic.
The U.S. Coast Guard declared later that OceanGate's chief executive Stockton Rush, veteran French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Dubai-based British explorer and businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman have died.
The probe is conducted by the Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation in co-ordination with Canadian, UK and French authorities.
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