Pakistan billionaire's son Suleman Dawood did not want to go on Titanic trip, agreed only for dad's sake, says aunt

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, June 23

The 19-year-old, Suleman Dawood, son of Pakistan billionaire Shahzada Dawood, who was among the five dead after "catastrophic implosion" on board the submarine Titan, did not want to go on the trip as the rest of the members were not his age.

He agreed only for his dad's sake on Father's Day.

“He was terrified of the daring expedition,” said his aunt while speaking to Sky News.

Shahzada Dawood's sister said she was "absolutely heartbroken". “Suleman joined the expedition because it was important to his Titanic-obsessed father,” she said.

The US Coast Guard said the debris of the submersible was found 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.

“I feel like I've been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn't know what you're counting down to. I have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them," she added.

OceanGate Expeditions, the US-based company that owned and operated the submersible, said in a statement that it believed the five passengers of the Titanic-bound submersible have "sadly been lost".

The submersible went missing more than 600 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland in eastern Canada early on Sunday morning during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, Xinhua news agency reported.

The five passengers on board were Hamish Harding, a billionaire and explorer; Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a French explorer; Shahzada Dawood and son, Suleman Dawood; and OceanGate CEO Rush.