Further details about the passengers of the OceanGate’s Titanic submersible emerged days after its disappearance.
Businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood were among the five Titan passengers presumed dead June 22, after officials found evidence consistent with an implosion taking place during their dive.
Suleman had initially been hesitant to go on the trip, telling a relative he felt “terrified” about the underwater excursion, according to his aunt Azmeh Dawood.
Explaining that her nephew “wasn’t very up for it” at first, Azmeh recalled to NBC News that the teen ended up going on the trip because it fell on Father’s Day and he wanted to please his dad Shahzada.
“I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath,” Azmeh said on June 22. “It’s been crippling, to be honest.”
Calling the situation “unreal,” she added, “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 personally have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them.”
