Report: 5 passengers aboard Titan submersible ‘have sadly been lost’

BOSTON (WLNE) — The five passengers aboard the missing Titan submersible “have sadly been lost,” OceanGate told ABC News Thursday.

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Hours after the search for the missing Titan submersible passed the critical 96-hour mark, the U.S. Coast Guard said one of its remotely operated vehicles (ROV) found a debris field along the sea floor near the Titanic.

Five passengers are on board the submersible that submerged at about 8 a.m. Sunday, the Coast Guard said it expected the vessel’s oxygen reserve to be depleted between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Thursday.

Even as the 96-hour mark passes, the joint search for the Titan continues as more apparatus arrived to help in the search.

The Coast Guard said at about 7 a.m. that a Canadian vessel’s ROV had reached the sea floor. 30 minutes later, a French ROV was also deployed.

This expanded search over the past two days came after authorities detected underwater sounds in the area of the Titanic wreckage that has been described as banging noises.

Authorities rushed ships, planes, and other search equipment to the area of the Titanic site following that development.

Difficulties surrounding getting the equipment out to the Titanic site are just a part of the problem rescue crews have faced, as they expanded the search area to twice the size of Connecticut.

If the vessel is located and intact, crews then have to reach it and pull it up to the surface and hope the oxygen supply hasn’t run out.