Coast Guard Says Wreckage of Missing Titan Submarine Found, All Passengers Dead in Implosion

Rescue crews searching for the missing Titan submarine revealed the discovery of an underwater "debris field" near the wreckage of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard revealed today, indicating that the submersible appears to have imploded and killed all passengers.

At a press conference, Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard said that debris from the Titan, including its tail cone, was discovered on the ocean floor this morning. The debris is "consistent with catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber," indicating that the craft broke apart under pressure.

"We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost," said OceanGate Expeditions, the company that organizes the tours, in a statement, The New York Times reports. "These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” the company said. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”

Rescuers had been searching an area of the northern Atlantic Ocean roughly the size of Connecticut for the sub, which lost contact with its support vessel shortly after it began its journey on Sunday. They had recently been looking in an area where mysterious knocking noises were detected, hoping to find the submarine intact.

The submarine departed with five passengers on board: French former naval officer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; Stockton Rush, founder of OceanGate Expeditions; British billionaire Hamish Harding; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood; and Dawood's 19-year-old son, Sulaiman Dawood.

Stockton Rush' wife Wendy Rush, who serves as OceanGate's communications director, is a descendant of two of the original Titanic's most famous passengers.

The case of the missing submarine has captivated audiences around the world over the past several days. The plight of the ultra-wealthy passengers has drawn widespread discussion on social media, particularly as it compares to coverage of other recent maritime disasters involving migrants. The tragic history of the Titanic that the expedition sought to explore has also added to the mystery, as have headlines about apparent warnings over safety concerns.

This story has been updated with information from the U.S. Coast Guard's press conference.