Debris from the missing Titan sub has been found in the search site, a friend of the passengers says
David Mearns tells the BBC a “landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible” were seen
A debris field was found on the seabed near the Titanic wreck, the US Coast Guard announced earlier
The Coast Guard will hold a press conference at 15:00 local time (20:00bst) with more information
Contact with the sub – which has five people on board – was lost on Sunday as it made a descent to the Titanic wreck
OceanGate statement in full
We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost.
These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.
This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.
We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families.
This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea.
We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time.