The US Coast Guard has confirmed that presumed human remains have been found in the wreckage of the Titan submersible.
Medical professionals will now formally analyse the findings among other debris and evidence discovered from the sea floor. Five people were killed when the vessel's imploded on a trip to see the Titanic shipwreck.
British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were killed on board, alongside OceanGate Expeditions' chief executive, Stockton Rush, and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Large pieces of debris from Titan were transported to St John's harbour on Wednesday by the Horizon Arctic ship, where it was seen being unloaded by a crane.
READ MORE: Titanic director James Cameron slams sub rescue as 'nightmarish charade'
Speaking after the evidence was recovered, Captain Jason Neubauer, the Marine Board of Investigation's (MBI) chairman, said: "I am grateful for the co-ordinated international and inter-agency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths.
"The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again."
The US Coast Guard said the MBI intends to transport the evidence to a port in the US where they will be able to facilitate further analysis and testing. The MBI will continue evidence collection and witness interviews to inform a public hearing about the incident, the USCG added.
Pelagic Research Services, whose remote operating vehicle (ROV) discovered the debris fields, said on Wednesday its team is "still on mission".
A statement said: "They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones."
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