A senior Russian admiral said today that 23 sailors in the Kursk nuclear submarine might have suffered through three days of agony in the freezing darkness of its back compartment, waiting in vain for a rescue that never came.
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"I personally think that life in the ninth compartment came to an end on the third day," said Vice Admiral Vladislav Ilyin, the first deputy chief of the Russian Navy's staff.
That contradicted the conclusion of prosecutors, who said that sailors in the stern could have lived only several hours before succumbing to toxic carbon monoxide fumes from the fire that broke out after the explosion that sank the vessel in August 2000. All 118 crew members perished.
Mr Ilyin didn't spell out the reasons that prompted him to challenge the prosecutors, saying only that he was guided by his personal experience as a submariner.
Most of the crewmen were killed instantly by the powerful blasts that ripped open the Kursk's pressure hull and threw it onto the Barents Sea floor. However, 23 crewmen remained alive for at least several hours, according to letters later found by rescuers. Officials have released only excerpts.
The Kursk's wreckage was raised and put in a dry dock in October. Prosecutors have removed and identified remains of most of the crew and searched for evidence that could shed light on the cause of the catastrophe.
AP