Moscow - Divers trying to raise the bodies of 118 sailors from the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine were near to finishing a man-size hole in the hull yesterday, the Russian navy officer leading the operation said.
But the thickness of the hull and storms scudding around the Barents Sea were making it tough for Russian and Norwegian divers working in intense cold and darkness more than 100 metres below the surface.
The Kursk was sunk on August 12th after two explosions ripped through it, virtually tearing off its front section.
All 118 crew died and President Putin, bitterly criticised for inaction in the first days of the crisis, pledged to have the men's bodies retrieved.