Titan sub victim Shahzada Dawood 'would never have put family at risk'
- Published
Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman both died on the sub
Shahzada Dawood would never have gone on the Titan submersible if he had been aware of any alleged safety concerns, a friend of the businessman said.
The 48-year-old died with his son, Suleman, 19, and three others. Sub debris was found on the north Atlantic seabed near the wreck of the Titanic.
Since then, claims have been made that safety warnings were ignored by the CEO of the company, Stockton Rush.
Richard Hawkes said his friend would never have put his son at risk.
"I know how much Shahzada loved his family," said Mr Hawkes, when asked about the safety concerns.
"I can't imagine that Shahzada would have done anything that he thought possibly could have had the devastating consequences that we've seen this week.
"The children absolutely loved him and they did lots of interesting things together. It's just an absolute tragedy that this one has ended up in this way."
Mr Hawkes knew Mr Dawood, who lived in Surbiton, south-west London, through the British Asian Trust, external (BAT), of which Mr Hawkes is the chief executive.
"Shahzada was a genuinely lovely man," he said.
"He was actively interested in the work we're doing, what changes we're making and what he could do to make things better and that's how I will remember him.
"Everybody at the BAT is absolutely devastated."
Shahzada Dawood met King Charles through their connections to the British Asian Trust, which the King helped to set up
Mr Hawkes added: "I remember the first time I met him because it was so different to the first time you meet so many other people.
"We'd arranged to have lunch and when we arrived he said 'let's forget lunch and go for a walk'.
"We walked for two hours and we were just talking about interesting things and getting to know each other and talking about the work of the British Asian Trust. He really wanted to know about it.
"Every time I met him we would have conversations about different aspects of history, different things that were going on in the world - he was one of those fascinating people that you could talk to about almost anything and he had knowledge about it."
Shahzada Dawood, pictured with Queen Camilla, was a great supporter of the BAT
Mr Dawood was the vice-chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, a large fertiliser firm.
He worked with his family's Dawood Foundation, as well as the SETI Institute, a California-based research organisation.
Alongside the BAT, he was a supporter of the Prince's Trust International.
Richard Hawkes said the past week had been devastating
"The family has been successful, but they are hugely generous. They support a range of charities and development work. They really want to make the world a better place," said Mr Hawkes.
'Impossible to comprehend'
The Titan was first reported missing on Sunday, when it lost contact about one hour and 45 minutes into its dive, some 300 miles of the coast of the Canadian island of Newfoundland.
The following days saw a mass search operation with rescue teams from across the world looking for the submersible. It was found on the ocean floor on Thursday, approximately 1,600ft (487m) from the bow of the Titanic wreck.
Suleman Dawood, 19, died alongside his father
"The whole of the last week has been absolutely devastating," said Mr Hawkes.
"It was frightening, it was scary, and then at times we were hearing news that was a little bit hopeful and so emotions have been up and down all week, but I think everybody's been in shock and then absolutely devastated when we got the news about what had happened.
"I think the last thing anybody would want is for someone to suffer the type of trauma of what we thought was happening when the oxygen was running out.
"I think it's impossible to comprehend what actually happened."
The wife and mother of two men who died on board the Titan submersible, Christine Dawood, speaks to BBC News about her loss and the impact on her family.
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- Published23 June 2023
