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5th July 2023
10:48am BST
It's been revealed that people were able to make thousands by betting on the outcome of the huge search for the OceanGate Titan submersible.
Last month, a huge search operation was launched after communications were lost with the Titan one hour and 45 minutes after it set off on a dive to the Titanic wreck on June 18.
Five people were onboard, sparking a race against time to find the 21-foot-long vessel that had just 96-hours of emergency oxygen and limited rations on board.
The US Coast Guard later announced that debris had been found on the seabed, 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, leaving experts to determine “a catastrophic implosion of the vehicle” occured, claiming the lives of everyone on board: British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French navy veteran Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19.
It now turns out that whilst the fate of Titan and those onboard was still unknown, some gamblers were using the incident to make thousands.
According to reports, internet users placed bets totalling $300,000 (£235,000) on the fate of the submersible through cryptocurrency platform Polymarket.
Laying out the parameters for the market, the site stated: "For the purposes of this market, the vessel need not have been rescued or physically recovered to be considered ‘found'.
"If pieces are located, but not the cabin which contains the vessel’s passengers, that will not suffice for this market to resolve to ‘Yes'."
Defending one of his bets, one man named Rich claimed he made more than £2,500 on the market.
He said: "My answer would be that markets are fundamentally immoral. There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism.”
Many have reacted with disgust at the revelation that people were betting on other humans' lives.
One person wrote on Twitter: "Actually insane. Imagine making money off of if someone is gonna die or not.”
Another person said: "Humanity is ending day by day Imagine betting real money on people's lives."
And a third wrote: "This is so disappointing, not that I really expect more from the dregs of humanity but there are some lines that we all have to agree to just not cross..."
Since the confirmation of what happened to the sub, it has been revealed that Rush ignored a number of safety warnings raised by others in the deep diving community, including film director James Cameron.
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