|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Monday, 1 September 2003 |
 |
|
 |
World | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Russian nuclear submarine sinks, nine killed MOSCOW, Sunday (Reuters) A Russian nuclear-powered submarine sank in stormy Arctic seas early killing nine servicemen, as it was being towed into port for scrapping, defence officials said. The head of the operation to move the K-159 through the Barents Sea was immmediately suspended and President Vladimir Putin pledged a thorough probe into the accident, which evoked memories of the Kursk disaster three years ago. The 40-year-old vessel - one of two submarines being transported to a scrapyard at the port of Polyarny - sank to the seabed 170 metres (510 feet) down after floats supporting it broke up during a storm. Officials said its nuclear reactors had been shut down in 1989 when it was decommissioned and posed no ecological threat. But an environmental pressure group said water was likely to seep into the reactors and radiation levels in the area would have to be watched closely. Putin, who suffered badly in the political fallout from the sinking of the Kursk in August 2000 when 118 servicemen were killed, said in Sardinia where he was on holiday: "Of course, all reasons for the tragedy will be established." Of the 10 crewmen on board when the accident occurred at about 4 a.m. (midnight GMT), one officer was rescued alive and two bodies were recovered from the sea. The submarine was being towed along the Kola Peninsula coast to Polyarny when the the floats broke apart and the K-159 tipped over and sank three miles (five km) northwest of Kildin Island. Interfax news agency, quoting Northern Fleet sources, said a second submarine being transported to Polyarny for scrapping at the same time arrived there successfully. The sources suggested the air rescue operation was delayed because rescuers saw one submarine on the surface and did not at first realise that a second one had sunk. After a day-long search for survivors, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said hope had been abandoned. "We have to recognise...that there are no chances of finding anyone alive from the crew," he said after flying to the Arctic port of Severomorsk to confer with naval chiefs on the tragedy. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
