In a heart-rending revelation, the mother of Suleman Dawood, the teenager tragically lost alongside his father on the ill-fated Titan submersible voyage, revealed she was originally meant to join the Titanic expedition.
Christine Dawood, in an emotional interview with the BBC, aired on Monday, shared: “It was supposed to be Shahzada and I going down and then I stepped back and gave my place to Suleman because he really wanted to go."
She gave a poignant account of the last moment she shared with her son and husband, Shahzada Dawood, before they embarked on OceanGate's Titan submersible, set to descend 13,000 feet under the sea to view the Titanic wreckage.
"We just hugged and joked actually because Shahzada was so excited to go down. He was like a little child," she remembered, her voice tinged with grief. "I miss them, I really, really miss them."
Her son, she revealed, had taken a Rubik's cube on the expedition, brimming with excitement to break a world record by solving the puzzle deep below the ocean surface.
Azmeh Dawood, Shahzada Dawood's sister and Suleman's aunt, had earlier told NBC News about the reservations the 19-year-old had about boarding the sub. Despite his initial fear, Suleman went ahead with the trip to please his father, particularly as it coincided with Father's Day weekend.
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In the aftermath of the tragedy, Azmeh described her feelings: "I feel disbelief. It’s an unreal situation," she admitted. "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."
The Titan submersible went missing on June 18 during a dive to the Titanic. A chilling announcement by the U.S. Coast Guard on June 22 confirmed the discovery of debris near the famous ship's bow, signalling a "catastrophic implosion" of the sub. Alongside Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet lost their lives in the disaster.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced it will lead a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the calamity, assembling its highest investigative body, a marine board of investigation.
Capt. Jason Neubauer, chairman of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation, detailed their priority: "The board will first and primarily work to determine the cause of this marine casualty and the five associated deaths," he noted. "It can make recommendations to the proper authorities to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary."
Authorities are meticulously reviewing voice and data recordings from the ship that chartered the sub to its launch point. They are also interviewing the 41 people on board, which included family members of the victims.
Key to the investigation is the sub's carbon-fiber hull, amidst allegations that Rush disregarded safety warnings. Former U.S. Coast Guard captain, Andrew Norris, criticised the lack of oversight, stating, "They didn’t have any external bodies, governmental, otherwise overseeing what they’re doing."
OceanGate, now closed indefinitely, released a brief statement stating they have "no additional information to share at this time." As the world watches, the memory of the five souls lost in this underwater disaster remains, their families clinging to their cherished memories in their devastating absence.