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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Kirsten McStay & Susan Knox

Loose Women star slammed after calling missing Titanic explorers 'selfish billionaires'

Loose Women viewers were furious with Janet Street-Porter's comments on today's show as she spoke about the devastating case of the missing Titanic submarine, insinuating that she feels it was a 'selfish' move of the five passengers onboard.

Former journalist Janet said that she thinks that each of the passengers on board the tourist submarine 'must have known' the risks involved in undertaking such a huge mission to explore the 'graveyard' of the sunken Titanic ship, writes The Mirror.

She then went on to claim that the rescue mission crew are risking their lives to save the 'billionaires' on board the submarine - and they are being paid 'a lot less' to risk it all in order to save what some would call the 'selfish' passengers.

The missing tourist submersible with British billionaire Hamish Harding on board has a one percent chance of being found and rescued safely, an expert predicted earlier today.

A massive search and rescue operation is currently underway in the mid Atlantic after the tourist submarine went missing during a dive to the sunken Titanic shipwreck on Sunday.

However, after hearing Janet's comments on the matter, many Loose Women viewers hit out at the 'insensitivity' of the topic discussed on today's panel.

One wrote: "Janet has basically just called the missing people 'selfish billionaires'. She couldn't have been less compassionate."

Loose Women Janet Street-Porter calls missing Titanic explorers 'selfish billionaires' (ITV)

Another added: "Gosh, hard watch on Loose Women. Imagine those people's families. It doesn't matter now if they are billionaires. Their lives are at high risk. Janet really doesn't know when to shush."

While one penned: "Omg so much insensitivity on the missing sub."

Another wrote: "Not Janet Street-Porter suggesting that those on the missing Titanic mission are selfish."

Contact with the small submarine was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive, and the passengers will only have Oxygen until Thursday at 11am, after which it will run out.

Billionaire explorer Hamish Harding is on board the submarine (FACEBOOK)

The trip, which is thought to cost £195,000 per head, launched at 4am on Sunday, but communications disappeared less than two hours into the descent to the Titanic wreck site - which sits about 3,800m (12,500ft) below sea level at the bottom of the ocean, around 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, but in US waters.

The missing submarine was designed with a 96-hour 'emergency capability', Rear Admiral John Mauger, who is leading the rescue mission, has previously revealed - meaning there should be enough oxygen in the vessel until around midday on Thursday.

There are fears that the submersible, named Titan, could be stuck in the wreckage of the Titanic that it was diving to explore.

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