Suleman Dawood and his father Shahzada Dawood were on the Titanic sub
By Nichola Rutherford
BBC Scotland News
A teenager who died in a submersible that went missing on a dive to the Titanic’s wreck was a student in Glasgow, BBC Scotland has learned.
Suleman Dawood, 19, studied at the University of Strathclyde.
He was one of five people on board the sub, including his father Shahzada, 48, a businessman who lived in Surbiton, south-west London.
The US coast guard confirmed all five passengers had died after after debris was found in the search area.
Contact was lost on Sunday about an hour-and-a-half into its dive in the mid-Atlantic. A massive search operation attempted to locate the vessel and those on board.
Earlier this week a family statement described Suleman as a “big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things”, and having an interest in Rubik’s cubes and playing volleyball.
A former pupil of ACS International School Cobham in Surrey, he had just completed his first year at Strathclyde Business School.
The university’s principal and vice-chancellor, Prof Sir Jim McDonald, wrote to students to inform that Suleman was in the missing sub.
In the message, he said: “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.
“I know you will join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to their families and loved ones.”
He said the student wellbeing team was available to support those affected by the news.
Image source, Getty Images
Suleman studied at Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow
Suleman’s father was from one of Pakistan’s richest families and is vice-chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, which is a large fertiliser firm.
He and wife Christine have another child, Alina. The family were spending a month in Canada prior to the dive.
Shahzada was also a supporter of two charities founded by King Charles – the British Asian Trust and the Prince’s Trust International.
He studied in Philadelphia, USA, and the University of Buckingham in England, where he graduated in 1998.
Watch: The latest on the Titanic sub… in 70 seconds
His family said he was interested in “exploring different natural habitats”, and had previously spoken at both the United Nations and Oxford Union.
The father and son were on board the sub with British adventurer Hamish Harding, former French Navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, the chief executive of OceanGate, which runs the Titanic voyages.
OceanGate charges $250,000 per person for the deep-sea excursion to the Titanic shipwreck, which sits 3,800m (12,500ft) beneath the surface of the Atlantic.
Image source, US COAST GUARD HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Aberdeenshire-based Deep Energy took part in the rescue mission
Titan and its passengers were at the centre of a huge international rescue mission, which included a Scottish ship normally used to work on pipelines in the North Sea.
The Aberdeenshire-based Deep Energy had remote submersibles that reach the 3,800m (12,500ft) depth of the Titanic wreck to search for the missing vehicle.
A large RAF plane also left Scotland for Canada to join the search operation.
A C17 Globemaster loaded with ancillary equipment – believed to be cables – departed from RAF Lossiemouth at around 15:00.
A second plane – and Atlas A400M – was scheduled to leave later, transporting specialist loaders and crew.
Planes were loaded at RAF Lossiemouth before heading to Canada
The Ministry of Defence received a request for assistance on Wednesday night and had been moving assets since then to help with the operation.
Meanwhile, the plight of Suleman and his fellow passengers had beenraised at First Minister’s Questions in the Scottish Parliament.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “My thoughts are very much with the families and the communities that are affected.”
