I didn’t kill reporter, claims submarine owner
DENMARK: The amateur submariner accused over the disappearance of a passenger maintained his innocence yesterday as a court ordered him to be held in custody for 24 days while police try to solve the mystery.
Kim Wall, 30, a Swedish journalist, was last seen on the home-built submarine that police believe was deliberately sunk. She was photographed on the turret of the 18-metre vessel alongside its builder, Peter Madsen, 46, shortly before they set off from Copenhagen last Thursday evening local time.
Madsen, who is under arrest on suspicion of manslaughter, told police that he dropped Wall off 31⁄2 hours after departure, then headed back to sea.
When he was rescued, Madsen claimed a technical problem had caused his submarine to sink. Police said he had since changed elements of his story but refused to release details.
Wall joined the inventor to write about Nautilus, described as the largest homemade submarine of her kind and built using cash raised through crowdfunding.
Police said yesterday that a witness had described a near-collision with the sub on Thursday as it headed towards Swedish waters, without confirming the time, and they appealed for further sightings of the vessel up until Madsen was rescued on Friday morning.
‘‘Investigations confirm that the sinking of the submarine was allegedly a consequence of a deliberate act,’’ Copenhagen police said yesterday.
The submarine was raised at the weekend but Wall was not found.
Electronic equipment from the Nautilus was being analysed to determine its route.
Police also appealed for former passengers of Madsen, who denies the charges, to come forward, and they extended the search for Wall by issuing an international missing persons appeal to check whether her passport had been used at any border. – The Times