SUB FIRE KILLS 14
FOURTEEN Russian seamen have died in a fire on a deepwater research submersible, Russia’s Defence Ministry said yesterday, amid local media reports that the vessel was a secretive nuclear-powered minisubmarine.
Russian officials have offered little information about the vessel or what happened, but the presence of many senior ranking officers on board could suggest it was not on an ordinary assignment.
The ministry said the 14 crew were killed on Monday by inhaling poisonous fumes after a fire broke out on a “scientific research deep-sea submersible” studying sea floor terrain in Russia’s territorial waters in the far north.
The Novaya Gazeta newspaper cited sources as saying that the accident took place on an AS-12 nuclear mini-submarine, which is capable of going to extreme depths.
And Norway’s radiation authority revealed that Russia had informed it that there had been a gas explosion on-board the sub — a claim swiftly denied by Moscow.
“There has been a gas explosion, confirmed by the Russian authorities”, Per Strand, director of the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA), said.
“We are waiting for information from the Russian side about whether there was a reactor on board the submarine,” he said, adding that the NRPA had not noticed an increase in radiation levels in the area.
Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed “there were no notifications sent to the Norwegian side regarding the Russian science research deep water apparatus”.
President Vladimir Putin ordered a full investigation into what he deemed a “tragedy” in the country’s far north, the latest in a string of disasters and accidents to hit Russia’s navy.
“It is a big loss for the navy, and for the army as a whole,” Mr Putin said of the accident, which has echoes of the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000 that claimed the lives of 118 personnel and shook the first year of his presidency.
“It is not an ordinary vessel, as we know, it’s a scientific research vessel, its crew is highly professional,” he said.
Mr Putin said that the victims included seven Captain First Rank officers — the most senior staff officers in the Russian navy — and two had been awarded Hero of Russia, a top title awarded by the Russian president.