Dawood family announces virtual prayer for Titan sub victims Shahzada, Suleman

The Dawood family Monday announced they have organised a virtual prayer meet to commemorate their lost family members, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who tragically passed away in the recent Titan submarine incident in the Canadian seas.

The father-son pair, along with three other crew members on the 22-feet sub, including Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate — an organisation running deep-sea expeditions — had embarked on an excursion to explore the wreckage of the sunken 114-year-old Titanic cruise.

The family, one of the richest in Pakistan, shared an invitation for the prayer meeting on the Dawood Family's social media platforms.

"Please join the Dawood Family, as we pray to thank Allah for His immense blessings and seek His forgiveness for Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood," the message on the invite read.

The prayer for the father and son will be held via live stream on the Dawood Foundation's YouTube channel at 6:30pm in Pakistan on Tuesday, June 27.

The message was attributed to Shahzada's parents, Hussain and Kulsum Dawood.

Titan sub probe launched

Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard has launched an investigation into the cause of the underwater implosion that destroyed the small submersible.

The Coast Guard said it had created a marine board of investigation (MBI), its highest level of probe, for this drama and, ultimately, tragedy in the North Atlantic that drew worldwide attention.

"My primary goal is to prevent a similar occurrence by making the necessary recommendations to enhance the safety of the maritime domain worldwide," Jason Neubauer, the Coast Guard's chief investigator and leader of this probe, told a press conference in Boston.

"The MBI is already in its initial evidence-collection phase, including debris salvage operations at the incident site," he added.

Neubauer said the US probe could also make recommendations on the possible pursuit of civil or criminal sanctions "as necessary."

Titan was reported missing last Sunday and the Coast Guard said Thursday that all five people aboard the submersible had died after the vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion.

A debris field was found on the seafloor, 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, which sits more than two miles (nearly four kilometers) below the ocean's surface and 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Canada, which helped in the search for the submersible, said Saturday it was carrying out its own probe.

The Canadian-flagged Polar Prince cargo vessel towed the Titan out to sea last weekend but lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes after the submersible launched into the ocean depths.

The announcement of the implosion ended a multinational search-and-rescue operation that captured the world´s attention since the tourist craft went missing.

— Additional input by AFP