Pray they are safe

Bangs raise hopés men on missing sub are alive

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

OXYGEN, food and water on the missing Titanic sub may be fast running out but rescuers last night refused to give up hope of finding the five tourists on board alive.

And relatives of the trapped men were given a major boost when banging was detected from beneath the waves that may be from the stricken vessel.

A submersible robot on its way to the spot where the sound came from could be the last hope of survival for Brits Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, his 19-year-old son Suleman, former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73, and tour boss Stockton Rush, 61.

Katherine Ainsworth, 64, who lives in St John's, Newfoundland, where Titan set sail from on Sunday, said: "The whole of St John's is thinking of those men and praying they come back home.

"We can all but pray the Titanic curse has not taken yet more love."

US Coastguard Captain Jamie Frederick told how the rescue had become an interaffair, with the US and France involved.

With the oxygen on board Titan expected to run out by 11am, he said: "We have to remain optimistic. This is a search and rescue mission, 100% national "exponentially" expanded the area of the Canada, search, and it is increasing "every hour".

"We'll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members.

"Sometimes we don't find what we're looking for, and you have to carefully consider all of the factors.

"After considering all those factors, sometimes you're in a position where you have to make a tough decision.

We're not there yet." The robot sub, called Victor 6000, arrived on the French research ship Atalante. It can dive to a depth of 20,000ft. The wreck of the Titanic, which sank in April 1912, lies at 12,467ft, around 390 miles off Newfoundland.