Coast Guard says missing craft imploded, no bodies found

After a five-day search, the Coast Guard announced Thursday that a missing submersible vehicle likely imploded near the Titanic wreckage site in the North Atlantic, killing all five passengers. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said searchers found five pieces of debris from the vessel “consistent with a catastrophic implosion.” OceanGate Expeditions released a statement offering condolences for the deaths of CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Will the search continue? The Coast Guard confirmed it will continue searching for debris to learn more about how and why the submersible imploded. Marine Geophysicist Rob Larter emphasized the difficulty of finding the small craft, let alone pieces of debris, on the ocean floor. “You’re talking about totally dark environments. … It’s just a needle in a haystack situation unless you’ve got a pretty precise location,” Larter said.

Dig deeper: Read coverage by Mary Muncy from the early stages of the search.