‘Like shoeboxes’: Titan submersible victim’s widow reveals how her husband and son’s remains were returned to her nearly a year after the implosion

It has been nearly three years since the Titan submersible imploded on June 18, 2023, killing five people, including father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood. The two were on an expedition to the Titanic wreck when the disaster happened. Now, Christine Dawood, who lost both her husband and son in the incident, has spoken about what happened in the months after the implosion.

In an interview with The Guardian, Christine shared her first reaction upon hearing the news. “Thank God. When they said catastrophic [implosion], I knew Shahzada and Suleman didn’t even know about it,” she said. Her words suggest that she found some relief in knowing that they would not have suffered.

The remains of the two were reduced to what Christine described as “slush.” She did not receive anything for nine months, and when she finally did, it came in two small boxes. “We didn’t get the bodies for nine months. Well, when I say bodies, I mean the slush that was left. They came in two small boxes, like shoeboxes,” she recalled.

Christine Dawood has been vocal about holding OceanGate accountable for the deaths

Christine has been open about who she believes is responsible for the disaster. She blamed OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush for the deaths of everyone on board that day. At the same time, she also noted, “I wanted to hear the confidence of the person who built it, who ran the company, but also he surrounded himself with literal experts.”

The investigation into the implosion has raised serious questions about OceanGate’s safety practices. Concerns have been pointed at the company’s use of carbon fiber in the submersible’s hull, as well as problems with its acoustic monitoring system. In other cases where unexpected deaths have uncovered shocking secrets, investigations have proven just as complex and drawn out.

A Netflix documentary titled Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster has also looked into the events that led up to the implosion. It highlighted the use of carbon fiber in the hull and the shortcomings of the acoustic monitoring system, bringing more public attention to the safety concerns that existed before the dive. Some OceanGate employees had reportedly raised alarms about the risks of the submersible’s design before the incident took place.

The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation has been looking into the incident but has not yet released its final report, nearly three years after the implosion. The US Department of Justice has also been examining OceanGate’s financial practices as part of a broader look at the company. Families seeking the truth through investigations are not alone. In a separate case, a mother desperately searching for answers after her son fell 47 feet from a ski lift turned to the public for help.

Christine’s account makes clear the long and painful wait that followed the disaster, from the months without any remains to receiving two small boxes in their place. Her story puts a human face on the consequences of the incident and keeps the focus on the need for answers and accountability.