Nine Russian Sailors Killed in Nuclear Submarine Sinking

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 31, 2003

Nine Russian Sailors Killed in Nuclear Submarine Sinking

Nine sailors have been killed after a decommissioned nuclear-powered submarine of the Russian Northern Fleet sank on Saturday morning in the Barents Sea, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

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Nine sailors have been killed after a decommissioned nuclear-powered submarine of the Russian Northern Fleet sank on Saturday morning in the Barents Sea, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

"Unfortunately, I am forced to admit that sailors are right when they say that it is impossible to find any of the remaining seven crew members alive," said Ivanov, who arrived in Severomorsk, the main base of the Northern Fleet, to monitor the rescue operations.

"The sub went to the bottom at a depth of 170 meters with an open deckhouse," he was quoted by Interfax as saying.

The K-159 submarine, which was being towed to a ship-repair yard in the town of Polyarny for dismantling, sank 3 miles (5 kilometers) northwest of Kildin Island at 4:00 a.m. Moscow time (OOOO GMT).

Of the 10 sailors, only one has been rescued, Defense Ministry press service head Nikolai Deryabin earlier said, noting that the bodies of other two sailors had been recovered from the sea.

According to him that the nuclear reactor was transferred to a safe state and weapons were offloaded from the sunken submarine, which was decommissioned on July 16, 1989.

Chief of staff of the Russian Navy Admiral Viktor Kravchenko told Itar-Tass that on Aug. 28, the towing of the 40-year-old submarine began. The four floating pontoons, which were towing thesub, were torn off in a storm on Friday night and the submarine sank.

He said that the submarine would be lifted from the seabed for dismantling.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is paying a visit in Italy, said that a "thorough" investigation would be carried out into the sinking of the submarine.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted Putin, speaking on board a Russian cruiser off Sardinia, Italy, as saying that "A thorough investigation will be carried out."

He vowed to establish all reasons for the tragedy.

On Aug. 12, 2000, Russia nuclear-powered submarine Kursk sank after its torpedo exploded aboard in the Barents Sea during military exercises, killing all the 118 crew members.

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