A news station that started a countdown to when the vital oxygen supply to the missing Titan sub will run out has been slammed online amid the ongoing search.
On Sunday, it was declared that one of OceanGate's submersibles - Titan - had gone missing after embarking on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage 12,000 feet deep in the North Atlantic Ocean.
On board were five passengers including British businessman Hamish Harding, the vice chairman of the Pakistani energy manufacturing conglomerate Engro Corporation Shanzada Dawood, and his son Sulaiman, professional deep diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and the founder and CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush.
Each passenger paid a whopping $250,000 for a ticket to board the vessel and also signed a waiver during the preparation process.
Though a major search operation was deployed by the US Coast Guard in partnership with OceanGate, unfortunately, there have been no positive results and the oxygen reserve on board has now reportedly run out.
As reported by NBC News, the Coast Guard speculated that the oxygen supply on the Titan expired at 12:08PM GMT today, as they had 96 hours' worth onboard when they initially descended on the expedition.
Prior to the unfortunate news, Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard stated that rescuers had searched a 7,600-mile radius - equal to the size of Connecticut - with no "positive results."
"On Sunday, the coordination command center in Boston received a report from the Canadian expedition vessel Polar Prince of an overdue 21-foot submarine, Titan, with five people on board," he said as per CBS News. "The Titan was attempting to dive on the wreck of the Titanic, approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
"Approximately one hour and 45 minutes into the scheduled dive, the Polar Prince lost all communication with the Titan," he continued. "Polar Prince conducted an initial search and then requested Coast Guard assistance, the US Coast Guard in Boston assumed the responsibility of search-and-rescue mission coordinator and immediately launched search assets.
"These search efforts have focused on both surface, with C-130 aircraft searching by sight and with radar, and subsurface, with P-3 aircraft we’re able to drop and monitor sonar buoys. To date, those search efforts have not yielded any results," he added.
At the time this statement was released, the sub had 41 hours remaining.
In the wake of the tragic news, many have directed their attention to a news channel that posted an "insensitive" oxygen timer counting down the hours until the craft ran out.
Posting to Twitter, the popular news account Pop Crave reposted screenshots of the timer from News Nation
Hundreds took to the comments to slam the decision.
"They counting down like it’s the Super Bowl man wtf," wrote one user, while others also compared it to the annual New Year's Eve countdown.
"That’s insane," another added. "They really have no shame."
A third slammed the timer as "disrespectful."
And this user seemed to have a better idea writing: "That's a little much to have a timer on tv... U can update how much time when u do ur topic rounds but the timer is a little..."
However, others didn't seem to understand the problem.
One commented: "What’s the issue? I’m fascinated by this story and want to know how long they got left," while another user seemingly couldn't decide whether they found the entire thing "hilarious" or "horrible."
Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board and their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.