Gas leak aboard new Russian submarine kills 20, injures 21

Source: Agencies  |   2008-11-10  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A NEW Russian submarine's fire safety system malfunctioned as the nuclear-powered vessel took a test run in the Sea of Japan, suffocating 20 people and sending 21 others to the hospital, officials said yesterday.

It was Russia's worst naval accident since torpedo explosions sank another nuclear-powered submarine, the Kursk, in the Barents Sea in 2000, killing all 118 seamen aboard.

The victims in the latest disaster suffocated on Saturday after the submarine's fire-extinguishing system accidentally turned on and released Freon gas, said Sergei Markin, an official with Russia's top investigative agency. He said forensic tests found Freon in the victims' lungs.

The submarine was not damaged and traveled back to its base on Russia's Pacific coast under its own power yesterday, Russian navy spokesman Captain Igor °?Dygalo said.

The nuclear reactor that powers the sub was operating normally and radiation levels in the sub were also normal, Dygalo said.

He said the accident affected two sections of the submarine closest to the bow.

Seventeen civilians and three seamen died in the accident and 21 others were hospitalized after being evacuated to a destroyer that brought them to shore, Markin said in a statement, revising earlier casualty figures.

Lev Fyodorov, a top Russian chemical expert, said Freon pushed oxygen out, causing those inside to die of suffocation.

He also said scarce official information was making it difficult to understand exactly what happened on the submarine.

It wasn't immediately clear why personnel affected failed to activate the individual breathing kits they were supposed to have, he said.

Markin's agency has launched a probe into the accident, which he said will focus on what activated the firefighting system and possible violations of operating rules.