UPDATE: Passengers on missing submersible believed to have died

 

Debris has been found in the search for the Titan submersible.

A “debris field” has been discovered within the search area for the missing submersible Titan by a remotely-operated vehicle near the wreckage of the Titanic, the US Coast Guard said.

Glasgow student Suleman Dawood, 19, is one of the five passengers on board the vessel.

He had just completed his first year at the Strathclyde Business School before embarking on the journey with his father, Shahzada, 48.

The US Coast Guard said experts were “evaluating the information” after the debris was found.

The BBC reports dive expert David Mearns says the debris includes "a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible".

Mearns is a friend of passengers aboard the Titan.

Mearns has told the BBC that the president of the Explorers Club (which is connected to the diving and rescue community), provided this new information.

The Coast Guard had said earlier on Thursday that it is still treating the mission as an “active search and rescue”, despite hopes fading as the expected 96-hour oxygen supply onboard dwindled.

The US Coast Guard said a remotely-operated vehicle from the Canadian Horizon Arctic ship found debris on the sea floor near the Titanic wreckage.

A press conference will be held at the Coast Guard base in Boston to “discuss the findings” at 8pm UK time.

Rear Admiral John Mauger, First Coast Guard District commander, and Captain Jamie Frederick, First Coast Guard District response coordinator, will lead the press conference.