19-year-old was reportedly 'terrified' to board the Titanic sub but agreed because it was Father's Day

19-year-old Suleman Dawood, who was among the five people who died after a "catastrophic implosion" of the Titan submersible, was terrified of the daring expedition and only decided to accompany his father because the trip fell over Father's Day weekend, his aunt has said.

A deep-sea submersible carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic was found in pieces from a "catastrophic implosion" that killed everyone aboard, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, ending a multinational five-day search for the vessel. Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood were two of the five passengers on the Titanic-bound excursion.

Speaking to NBC News, Azmeh Dawood, Suleman’s aunt and older sister of Shahzada Dawood, shared that her nephew had expressed his hesitation regarding the trip to explore the Titanic wreckage. She told the portal that Suleman “wasn’t very up for it" and felt “terrified" about the trip.

However, despite his apprehension, Suleman ended up going aboard OceanGate's 22-foot submersible because the trip fell over Father's Day weekend, his aunt stated further. Azmeh Dawood stated that Suleman was eager to please his father, who was passionate about the lore of the Titanic.

"I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath. It's been crippling, to be honest," Azmeh said.

The Titan, operated by the US-based company OceanGate Expeditions, had been missing since it lost contact with its surface support ship on Sunday morning about an hour, 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour dive to the world's most famous shipwreck.      

As reports saying there were no survivors among the five men aboard the Titan emerged, Azmeh was devastated. In the interview, she said, "I feel like I've been caught in a really bad film, with a countdown, but you didn't know what you're counting down to."

"I personally have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them," she said.

Azmeh and Shahzada are scions of one of the most prominent corporate dynasties in Pakistan. The family’s namesake business empire, Dawood Hercules Corp., has investments in agriculture, the health sector and other industries.

Among the five dead were British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, 58; French oceanographer and renowned Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who had visited the wreck dozens of times and OceanGate's founder and chief executive officer, Stockton Rush, who was piloting the Titan.

Search teams and support personnel from the U.S., Canada, France and Britain had spent days scanning thousands of square miles of open seas with planes and ships for any sign of the Titan.

Also Read: Missing Titanic submarine: Crew on board believed dead after 'catastrophic implosion'

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