Rescuers are racing against the clock to find a British billionaire and four other people missing in a deep-sea vessel near the wreck of the Titanic ocean liner before their breathable air runs out. The US Coast Guard is leading the search for the small craft, named Titan, which was reported overdue about 435 miles (700km) south of St John's in Newfoundland, Canada, on Sunday.
Titan's dive was one of many that have been made to the wreck, which is about 2.4 miles (3.9km) below the surface, by OceanGate Expeditions since 2021. With the temperature on the ocean floor near freezing and an estimated 40-hour oxygen supply remaining on the vessel, the occupants are at increasing risk of hypothermia or suffocation.
Here the PA news agency sums up what we know so far:
