The young man who died with his father in the Titan submarine told his family that he was terrified

“Our hearts are with those five souls. We mourn their lives and celebrate the joy they brought to all who knew them.” With this message, OceanGate, the company responsible for titanic submarine, of the five passengers who lost their lives on Sunday on a ship traveling to investigate the remains of the Titanic. Inside the submarine was its founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, and four other occupants, a group of millionaires who paid €250,000 for a trip to the seabed.

Since the news broke, family and friends have been creating profiles of the deceased. One of the most powerful testimonies comes from the Dawood family. Specifically from Suleman’s aunt, the 19-year-old who was traveling on the boat with his father, Shahzad Dawood.

In an interview with NBC, Azmer Dawood assured that the boy was not convinced by the experience, that he did not feel prepared and that days before leaving for the trip he stated that I was “terrified”. “He had the feeling that something was wrong, he was not very comfortable, but he managed.”

The young man embarked on this experience last Sunday because the trip coincided with Father’s Day and he wanted to please his father, who was passionate about Titanic, a mythical ship that sank in 1912 and whose remains rest on the seabed. – I was completely obsessed.

“To think that Suleman, at 19 years old, is in there, maybe out of breath… To be honest, I find it paralyzing,” Azmeha explained to NBC News. The sensation, that of Suleman’s aunt, was confirmed on Thursday, when OceanGate announced that five Titan passengers had died. “I do not believe. This is not real,” she said through tears. “I feel like I’m caught in a bad movie, with a countdown, but you didn’t know what you were counting on,” she explained as her four days passed. Azmeha was not surprised when she learned that her brother and nephew would be boarding the OceanGate submarine. “I wouldn’t go into it for a million dollars.”

A family empire originating in Pakistan

Shahzada DawoodThe 48-year-old, who traveled on the Titan with her son, comes from one of Pakistan’s wealthiest business families but was based in the UK for years. He leaves behind a wife and a daughter. He was the vice-chairman of Engro Corporation Limited, a large company based in Karachi, and a member of the board of directors of the Prince’s Trust charity. The family business empire invests in agriculture and healthcare, among other things.

The family relationship with sister Azmeh did not go through the best moments. Suleman’s aunt was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and confined to a wheelchair. She and her husband moved to Amsterdam in order to have access to medical cannabis, which distanced them from a part of the family that did not approve of their decision. However, she assures that the impact of that news touched her. – He was my younger brother.

Parents Azmeh and Shazada Dawood also released a statement following the tragic death of father and son. “The outpouring of love and support we are receiving continues to help us cope with this unimaginable loss,” said Hussain and Kulsum Dawood.