Titan tragedy: Pak billionaire's son was 'terrified' before trip, aunt says

In the days before the Titan submersible went into the North Atlantic Ocean, Suleman Dawood, the son of the Pakistani billionaire and among the five people who died after a "catastrophic implosion" of the Titan submersible expressed hesitation about going, his aunt has said.

Speaking to NBC news, the older sister of Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, said that her nephew informed a relative that he "wasn't very up for it" and felt "terrified" about the trip. But he joined the expedition because the trip fell over Father’s Day weekend and it was important to his dad, who was passionate about the Titanic, Azmeh Dawood said.

Azmeh Dawood said she was devastated and “absolutely heartbroken” when OceanGate, the company behind the underwater expedition, confirmed that all five passengers aboard were presumed dead. The US Coast Guard said the debris of the submersible was found 1,600 feet (488 metres) from the bow of the Titanic.

"I feel very bad that the whole world has had to go through so much trauma, so much suspense," Azmeh Dawood said in an interview with NBC News. She said that she felt like she had been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but she didn't know what she was counting down to. She added that she personally had found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking about them.

Azmeh Dawood said that she wouldn't have gotten into the Titan "for a million dollars"

Her remarks came after the search for the missing Titan ended, with debris from the submersible found and its five occupants presumed dead.

“On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families," Rear Admiral John Mauger of the Coast Guard told reporters. "I can only imagine what this has been like for them and I hope that this discovery provides some solace, during this difficult time."

In addition to Shahzada Dawood and his son, the submersible also carried British explorer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush, CEO of the sub's operator OceanGate Expeditions.