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Scammers looking to make a quick buck on the missing Titanic-bound submersible tried to crowdsource off the tragedy ... but GoFundMe is cracking down.

Here's the deal ... we did some digging and found several GoFundMe pages seeking donations for search and rescue efforts, and money for the missing passengers' families.

Problem is ... these GoFundMe pages are NOT legit ... and the platform is taking action, and scrubbing the pages in some cases.

A rep for GoFundMe tells TMZ ... their Trust & Safety team is monitoring the platform for fundraisers related to the OceanGate sub, and 5 fundraisers have already been removed.

The folks behind the bogus fundraisers appear to have lofty visions ... most of them set six-figure goals, with others seeking upwards of $2 million.

A train derailed in Montana this weekend, causing a bridge over a river to collapse ... which now has officials worried that a hazardous spill is in making its way through the water.

The accident happened early Saturday morning, when a freight train went crashing into the Yellowstone River ... for reasons that have yet to be determined. Several rail cars are partially submerged in the water -- and word is, some of them are carrying toxic materials.

One of those chemicals is reported to stem from petroleum products -- some have said it's actually asphalt and other slow-moving liquids that have yet to be identified. The authorities have said they fear some of that may have started to seep into the river -- which feeds into the water supply for nearby residents. A full assessment is currently underway.

While there's no official word on a bona fide threat ... some citizens in Yellowstone/Stillwater Counties have reportedly been told to limit their water usage for the time being.

As you can imagine, emergency crews are on the scene and attempting to clean up what they can. Federal and state lawmakers are also responding en masse -- saying they're monitoring the situation and working with the appropriate experts to get it under control.

Of course, this is far from the only train derailment that's made news in the past year or so -- the one that went down earlier this year in East Palestine turned out to be a disaster.

Naturally, the issue of crumbling bridges and shoddy train tracks has been questioned of late ... especially across party lines. Some are wondering where the recent federal infrastructure bill money is going ... and why these incidents appear to be happening more regularly.

Lots of folks' hearts are going out to the five people who died aboard the Titanic-bound submersible ... because they're playing Celine Dion's beloved "Titanic" theme song -- a lot.

Celine's track from the 1997 Oscar-winning movie, "My Heart Will Go On," is seeing a huge bump on streaming platforms in the wake of the sub tragedy ... with over 500,000 streams since the rescue of the missing sub came to an end.

The numbers are pretty incredible ... Spotify listeners have played the song 522,864 times since Thursday ... with Friday bringing even more streams.

As you know, the OceanGate sub set out for the Titanic shipwreck early Sunday morning but then it lost all communications, prompting a multinational, days-long search and rescue effort.

The search ended Thursday when a debris field was found on the ocean floor ... it appears the sub imploded Sunday morning during its dive down to the Titanic.

It's a sad and captivating story, and it seems folks are turning to music to cope with the tragic loss of more life in the Atlantic.

OceanGate Expeditions is on the receiving end of even more scrutiny following the death of 5 in its Titanic-bound submersible ... because a job posting for a pilot was apparently live as the crew was MIA.

The internet's been blowing up with screengrabs of a now-deleted job posting by the company for a Submersible Pilot/Marine Technician to join the team ... looking for someone to "manage and operate our fleet of manned submersibles and support vessels."

It says OceanGate's seeking someone who can perform maintenance on the subs and operate the systems that deal with its dives -- calling it an "excellent opportunity for a high-energy professional."

The listing's since been scrubbed, but it's unclear when it was posted ... however, online records show the page being live from Monday to Thursday -- the days after Titan went missing in the Atlantic Ocean.

As you know, the 4 passengers -- along with CEO Stockton Rush -- died after the vessel apparently imploded near the Titanic wreckage.

James Cameron's harsh criticism of the imploded OceanGate submersible, and its CEO Stockton Rush, is pissing off OceanGate's co-founder ... who says Cameron's just guessing what happened to Titan, and has no actual knowledge.

Guillermo Söhnlein is pushing back on the "Titanic" director's assertion the submersible was "too experimental to carry passengers" ... saying it's impossible for James to know all the details.

Guillermo went on Times Radio Friday in the U.K., and defended OceanGate and Stockton, saying ... "It's impossible for anyone to really speculate from the outside ... I know from firsthand experience that we were extremely committed to safety and risk mitigation was a key part of the company culture."

Remember, James is blaming the tragedy on Stockton -- who was piloting Titan when it imploded -- claiming he ignored warnings from the industry about the safety of Titan's design, and then made matters worse by taking tourists aboard the vessel.

James, who made 33 dives to the famous shipwreck, said he and others in the submersible community voiced concerns about the Titan submersible, but Stockton pushed forward, undeterred -- kind of like the Titanic captain who went full steam ahead into an ice field.

Guillermo says James' views are not gospel -- he says there are differing opinions and views within the industry about every aspect of deep ocean dives and submersibles ... and, most importantly, he says James wasn't involved in the design, engineering, building, testing or diving on Titan.

Despite the 5 deaths aboard Titan, Guillermo says this isn't the end of OceanGate ... he says the company needs to investigate what went wrong, and apply those lessons moving forward.

The document the 4 passengers signed before getting in the ill-fated submersible could prevent their families from filing a wrongful death lawsuit, but there's one big exception.

The relevant jurisdiction according to the contract is the Bahamas. Bahamian law adopts many provisions of United States law, and in most U.S. states a company can absolve itself of liability for injury or death even if it was negligent, provided it fully discloses the risks to the participants.

There are other factors to consider, including lopsided bargaining power and the clarity of the language in the waiver. In this case, the passengers were all well-to-do and sophisticated, with access to counsel.

In short, even if OceanGate negligently constructed or operated the submersible, the families could very well be out of luck if they sue for wrongful death.

Now there's a big exception ... if a court were to determine OceanGate was "grossly negligent," the liability waiver would not be enforceable. Gross negligence is defined "a lack of care that demonstrates reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others." In short, a company cannot enforce a waiver if it engaged in reckless conduct.

That will be for a judge and/or jury to decide -- whether issues of design, materials, and operation crossed that line.

James Cameron is putting the U.S. military on blast in the aftermath of the Titanic submersible disaster ... saying he knew right away the vessel imploded, and so did the military -- yet somehow, the search dragged on for days.

The "Titanic" director told CNN it didn't take him long, back on Monday morning, to gather all the facts about the missing OceanGate Titan sub -- saying it immediately had all the markings of something "catastrophic," like an implosion, had occurred on Sunday.

James says he knew it would have to be something like an implosion for the submersible's communications and navigation systems to go out at the same time -- plus, the U.S. military's microphones had picked up a sound right around the same time the sub lost contact.

While he doesn't directly call out the U.S. military ... the fact is, the U.S. Coast Guard was coordinating the search and rescue mission -- an operation James calls a "prolonged nightmarish charade" that did nothing but create "false hope."

As we reported, James also took the opportunity Thursday to point blame at the late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was the pilot for the fatal voyage ... drawing a grim comparison between the recent trip and the Titanic's tragic one-and-only travel.

A Vegas tycoon didn't like the odds of surviving a trip aboard the ill-fated Titanic submarine -- and his intuition saved his life.

Jay Bloom says he could have been a passenger on the OceanGate-owned Titan submarine that claimed the lives of 5 people after the vessel imploded during a voyage to see the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean.

OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush even offered Bloom and his son a sweet discount from $250K to $150K per person -- but Bloom still blew it off, which, looking back now, was a life-saving decision.

In a Facebook post, Bloom shared text messages from February he traded with Rush about going on the Titanic expedition.

One text exchange showed how Bloom's son was clearly apprehensive about going on the voyage with Bloom stating, "My son's friend researched what could go wrong and put a little scare in him. He's excited to go, but concerned about the danger."

The miracle children who survived a fatal plane crash and 40 days in an unforgiving Colombian jungle have been rescued, but the rescue dog that first located them is MIA.

Wilson the rescue dog actually found the kids days before rescuers got to the kids, ages 13, 9, 4 and 11 months. Wilson stayed by the children's side for several days, but when rescuers located the children, Wilson was gone.

The 13-year-old, Lesly, drew a picture from her hospital bed of her experience in the jungle, and Wilson was right there, front and center. The dog gave the kids comfort and hope.

No one knows where Wilson went. It's possible he left to find rescuers to lead them to the children, but it's simply a mystery. The kids were rescued June 9, and the dog hasn't been seen since. Nevertheless, there's a rescue team out there, trying to find the canine hero.

James Cameron is going to catch a lot of heat for this ... he just blamed the Titanic-bound submersible tragedy on the captain, callously comparing it to the famous shipwreck.

The "Titanic" director shared his hot take on the submersible's deadly implosion, which killed all 5 people onboard, with ABC ... and it's shocking to hear.

James says ... "I'm struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field."

In short, James is blaming the tragedy on OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush .. who piloted the Titan submersible on the ill-fated mission.

James is considered a bit of an expert in this field ... in addition to winning Oscars for "Titanic," he also made 33 dives to the bottom of the Atlantic to see the shipwreck up close.

Some folks are critical of OceanGate and Stockton for exploring 2.5 miles below the surface in a tiny submersible navigated with consumer product parts, and James seems to be in that camp.

The 4 kids who survived a fatal plane crash in Colombia and then somehow made it out alive after 40 terrifying days in the jungle are not out of danger ... because they are now prime targets for kidnapping.

TMZ has prepared a documentary on their incredible survival story that airs tonight on FOX at 8 PM ET, and the doc ends with the question -- Where do they go from here? Fact is, the kids -- ages 13, 9, 4 and 11 months at the time of the crash -- are now national celebrities.

People on the ground in Colombia who know the lay of the land tell us, ransom is currency in their country, and insurgents frequently target high-profile people for kidnapping.

As the kids recover physically and emotionally, government officials are trying to figure out who should care for them, and safety is a big factor.

You'd think their father would become the caregiver, but a bitter custody battle has exploded between the dad and the maternal grandparents. The grandparents claim the dad, Manuel Ranoque, was physically abusive toward the kids' mom, even striking her with a machete. The father tells TMZ he has never abused his late wife or the kids.

The four children who survived a plane crash in Colombia last month and then fended for themselves in the treacherous Amazon jungle for 40 days, actually hid from their rescuers ... TMZ has learned.

The kids -- ages 13, 9, 4, and 11 months -- were onboard a Cessna that crashed in a Colombian jungle nose first, killing their mom, the pilot, and another man. Their survival story is incredible, and the subject of a TMZ documentary -- "TMZ Investigates: The Miracle Children of the Amazon" -- which airs tonight on FOX at 8 PM ET.

TMZ has had boots on the ground in Colombia since June 9, when the kids were rescued. As we report in the doc, military GPS shows rescuers were in earshot of the kids days before they were rescued, but the children hid from them. We're told they feared the rescuers were actually insurgent forces that would kill them.

There are two survival stories here -- surviving in the jungle amid wild animals, snakes, poisonous bugs, and deadly fruit, and surviving the plane crash itself. As for how they survived the crash, three of them were in the back of the plane, which remained relatively intact. As for the infant, she was cradled by her mother, who cushioned the child during impact.

Louis Tomlinson fans are licking their wounds this morning after a massive hail storm forced them to evacuate his Colorado concert ... and nearly 100 concertgoers were injured.

The weather disaster went down Wednesday night at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheater -- the show was set to start at 7 PM, but the huge bout of hail resulted in a few delays and push-backs until the whole thing was called off around 10:25 PM.

Fans were seeking shelter anywhere they could, too ... and many took to Twitter after the nightmare to complain about the golf ball-sized hail. One called the ordeal the "scariest night of my life," while another claimed they left the spot with a broken hand.

According to the fire department ... 7 people at Red Rocks were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and another 80 to 90 people were treated on the scene.

As for the show, Louie took to the bird app after the terrifying storm ... letting fans know he's devastated about having to pull the plug, before adding "I felt all of your passion! Sending you all love!"

"Simpsons" writer and producer Mike Reiss says he was super relaxed during his journey to the Titanic wreck aboard an OceanGate submersible -- but also scarily aware he might die down there.

Mike joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live," and detailed his experience on the Titan ... the sub that went missing this week in the Atlantic Ocean while attempting the exact same journey he made last summer.

For Mike, his trip included a few bumps and some technical difficulties ... but he says he kept his cool inside the cramped sub, even getting some shut-eye on the 2.5-hour descent to the ocean floor.

He says they stumbled upon the wreck and only had about 30 minutes to check it out from the tiny viewport ... but he got his pictures.

Mike was able to keep calm even in the face of some challenging conditions ... as he tells us, it's pitch black 2.5 miles under the surface and the sub creeps along in the dark looking for the wreck, usually without much help from the navigators back on the surface.

Plus, there's the fact Mike says the waiver he signed before the expedition made it very clear death was a possible outcome.

It's interesting ... Mike says he was actually comforted by the relative simplicity of the sub, including the video game controller steering the Titan.

As you know ... the Titan went missing Sunday during an expedition to the Titanic and a search and rescue effort is underway ... the clock is ticking and time is running out.

Our conversation with Mike is super interesting and insightful ... and he tells us why he went down there in the first place, and under what circumstances he'd actually go back again.

Things are starting to look very grim for the 5 people trapped inside the submersible meant to explore the Titanic ... but that's not stopping the stepson of one of the missing men from shooting his shot with an Onlyfans model.

Hamish Harding is a British billionaire among the passengers inside OceanGate's Titan -- the submersible that lost communication 2 hours into its dive Sunday. Harding's stepson Brian Szasz has been very active on social media as the story has blown up around the world.

Brian was back on Twitter Wednesday, first asking his followers to continue to think of his family, writing, "Please keep my family in your prayers!🙏🏽♥️"

However, about 30 minutes later, his attention shifted to streamer and Onlyfans model Brea -- who posted a pic of herself in a bikini with the caption, "can i sit on u."

Brian, clearly into the pic, reposted it and replied, "Yes please!🥰"

Of course, Brian's comment section started to pop off following the post. One user wrote, "Lmao quote tweeting a thirst trap while your stepdad is lost at sea is wild business 😅" Another added, "This guy loves blink- 182 and having ladies sit on his face and he’s not afraid to let the world know."

As we reported, Brian's the same guy who announced he was going to a Blink-182 concert in San Diego as rescuers scrambled to look for Harding. Brian posted a photo outside the concert Monday night, clearly aware it was going to come off the wrong way and defending his attendance at the show as a way to cope with a tough situation.

Guess everyone handles stress differently.

Search crews desperately looking for the five people trapped inside a submarine that vanished in the Atlantic Ocean might have gotten their first break -- after hearing possible signs of life coming from the vessel.

According to CNN, citing an internal U.S. government memo, the crews detected banging noises in 30-minute intervals over their sonars emanating from inside the North Atlantic Ocean Tuesday after the submarine disappeared two days earlier while on a tourist exploration to see the Titanic wreckage.

The internal memo said additional sonar devices were also deployed Tuesday, picking up even more banging, although it was unclear how long the second batch of sounds lasted.

"Additional acoustic feedback was heard and will assist in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope of survivors," CNN reported, quoting the internal document.

What's more ... a Canadian P-3 military aircraft reportedly spotted a white rectangular object in the ocean, but the potential lead has yet to be investigated because crews were too busy probing the banging noises.

The U.S. Coast Guard tweeted ... the P-3 aircraft shared information about the rectangular object with the U.S. Navy "for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans."

As everyone knows by now ... the authorities are in a race against time to find the submarine and save its five passengers, who began with 96 hours of oxygen when they launched the voyage Sunday.

By Tuesday, that number was cut by more than half to 40 hours. Now it's Wednesday and the clock is still ticking.

Former Coast Guard Captain Andrew Norris told us on "TMZ Live" ... the submarine passengers would need an unprecedented miracle to survive this situation.