Passengers aboard missing sub ‘have sadly been lost,’ OceanGate says

All five passengers aboard the missing OceanGate submersible aiming to view the Titanic wreckage "have sadly been lost," the vessel's operator said Thursday.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” according to the statement. “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.”

The vessel's passengers included world exploder Hamish Harding, Pakistani energy and tech mogul Shanzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, 19, famed French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush.