Suleman Dawood, one of the five men who died on the submersible dive to visit the Titanic, was a student at a university in Glasgow.
The University of Strathclyde confirmed that Dawood, 19, was one of its students with Strathclyde business school, and had just completed his first year. He was making the trip on the sub with his father, Shahzada Dawood, 48.
Earlier on Thursday, before news of their deaths were announced by the US Coast Guard, Prof Jim McDonald, the university’s principal, told students that its welfare team was available to support Dawood’s friends and classmates.
“I write to you with a heavy heart to share the news that one of our students, Suleman Dawood, is a passenger on board the submersible that is missing in the North Atlantic,” he said in an email to staff and students. “We are deeply concerned about Suleman, his father and the others involved in this incident. I know you will join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to their families and loved ones.”
On Thursday night a US Coast Guard spokesman said debris found in the search for missing submersible Titan was “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber”.
Rear Admiral John Mauger told a press conference in Boston: “Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families. On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families. I can only imagine what this has been like for them.
“And I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time.”
The submersible vessel had been missing since Sunday on a voyage to visit the Titanic shipwreck.
Dawood’s father was a billionaire businessman who lived in Surbiton, south-west London, originally from Pakistan and later became a British citizen.
Suleman Dawood has a sister, Alina, and his mother has been named as Christine. The family had been staying in Canada for several weeks before the dive.
Earlier this week a family statement described Suleman as a “big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things”, who was also keen on Rubik’s cubes and playing volleyball. He had recently graduated from ACS International School Cobham, in Surrey.
