Families of missing Titanic sub passengers pray for their safe return

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Loved ones of the five people onboard the missing Titanic submersible have asked people to pray for their safe return home.The submarine-like vessel is trapped beneath the Atlantic Ocean with three British passengers on board, including Pakistani British-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman Dawood.British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding is also on the vessel, as is French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush.

The 21ft vessel was taking the group on an eight-hour trip to the bottom of the Atlantic to see the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday morning - with tickets costing close to £200k, the Mirror reports.

But rescuers fear they may not reach the vessel in time before its oxygen supply cuts out after it lost contact around one hour and 45 minutes after it submerged.The Dawood and Harding families have asked for privacy but say they are grateful for the messages of support and concern they have received.Naval teams from across US, Canada and the UK are desperately trying to locate the vessel and rescue passengers before the oxygen supply cuts out in around 50 hours.One explorer and friend of missing British billionaire Hamish told Sky News she is "terrified" that the five could be at the bottom of the ocean running out of air."This is what I fear the most," Jannicke Mikkelsen said.Shahzada and son Sulaiman belong to one of Pakistan's most prominent families and are both British citizens.

Their family say they are "praying to Allah" for their safe return.In a statement, they said: “We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their