Officials Recover 'Presumed Human Remains' From Titan Sub Wreckage

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has received pieces of evidence from the wreckage site of the Titan submersible that imploded last week, according to a release from the military branch on Wednesday.

The evidence includes debris and "presumed human remains" that will be analyzed by the Marine Board of Investigation (MBI). According to the Coast Guard, the wreckage was returned to shore to St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, on Wednesday and will be transferred to the U.S. for further testing aboard a commissioned USCG vessel.

U.S. medical professionals "will conduct a formal analysis of presumed human remains" that were discovered at the wreckage site as well, the USCG said.

"The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy," said MBI Chair Captain Jason Neubauer, who was quoted in the USCG's release. "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."

Discovery of the wreckage comes roughly 10 days after the submersible imploded during its descent to explore wreckage of the iconic Titanic cruise ship on June 18. According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), the Titan wreckage was previously about 12,500 feet under the ocean surface and roughly 1,600 feet from the site of the Titanic.

All five passengers aboard the tourist submersible owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions—Captain Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Paul Henri Nargeolet and company CEO Stockton Rush—were killed in the vessel's implosion, and the cause of the tragedy remains unclear.

Photos of the sub's wreckage circulated earlier in the day Wednesday as crews returned large, shattered chunks of the Titan sub to a Canadian Coast Guard pier. According to AP's report, search for the sub's wreckage was conducted by a remotely operated vehicle owned by Pelagic Research Services, which confirmed in a statement to its social media on Wednesday that its crews had completed "off-shore operations."

"They have been working around the clock now for ten days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones," read the company's statement. "Due to confidentiality and duty of non-disclosure, no member of the Pelagic Research Services team can comment on, nor provide any information related to, the ongoing Titan investigation."

Representatives for the USCG, which is leading the investigation into the Titan's implosion, declined to comment further when reached by AP on Wednesday. Additional updates on the sub's wreckage will be available on the MBI's webpage.

Newsweek has reached out to oceanic exploration experts for further comment.

Update 06/28/2023, 7:22 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.