A grieving mother has disclosed that the remains of her husband and son, who perished in the Titan submersible disaster, were returned to her as a 'slush' contained in two small boxes. Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman were among five individuals killed instantaneously when the OceanGate vessel imploded while attempting to reach the Titanic wreck on June 18, 2023.
Christine Dawood spoke about the agonizing nine-month wait for the return of her family members' remains from the Atlantic seabed. 'Well, when I say bodies, I mean the slush that was left,' she told The Guardian. 'They came in two small boxes, like shoeboxes.' The 'slush' refers to the recovered remains from the seabed, which were separated and subjected to DNA testing by the U.S. Coast Guard.
'There wasn't much they could find,' she added. 'They have a big pile they can't separate, all mixed DNA, and they asked if I wanted some of that, too. But I said no, just what you know is Suleman and Shahzada.'
Mrs. Dawood revealed that she still keeps her son's 9,090-piece Lego model of the Titanic, which he built over two weeks, displayed in her kitchen. 'People are always a bit shocked to see it,' she said. 'But what was I going to do? Break it up? Hide it away? Suleman put all those hours in. He'd been fascinated with the Titanic since we went to a huge exhibition when we lived in Singapore.'
Researchers concluded that the sub must have collapsed inward within a fraction of a second, killing all five men instantaneously. Upon hearing this update, Mrs. Dawood, who has written a book about her heartbreak, stated: 'My first thought was, "Thank God"... I knew Shahzada and Suleman didn't even know about it. One moment they were there and the next they weren't. Knowing they didn't suffer has been so important. They're gone, but the way they went does somehow make it easier.'
Since the disaster, OceanGate has suspended its operations and currently has no full-time employees. A National Transportation Safety Board report criticized the faulty engineering of the Titan, stating that it 'resulted in the construction of a carbon fiber composite pressure vessel that contained multiple anomalies and failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements.' The report also highlighted that OceanGate failed to adequately test the Titan and was unaware of its true durability.
Eight 'primary causal factors' leading to the implosion were identified in the 335-page report, which also criticized OceanGate's 'toxic workplace environment' and 'disturbing pattern of misrepresentation and reckless disregard for safety.' The Titan sub was continually used despite 'a series of incidents that compromised the integrity of the hull and other critical components.' The sub was made of carbon fiber, which an expert told Metro had 'never been' an appropriate material for deep-water submarines because it gets weaker with every dive. OceanGate's former director of engineering described the first hull used on the Titan as akin to a 'high school project.'
The report also noted potential criminal offenses in the case of CEO Stockton Rush, stating he had 'exhibited negligence that contributed to the deaths of four individuals' and may have been accused of 'misconduct or neglect of ship officers' had he survived. This offense carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years in the U.S.
