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Grim Inspection of Kursk Submarine Begins
Wednesday, October 24, 2001
(10:26)
Reuters

Radiation specialists were due to enter the submarine's hull to examine the nuclear reactors, Itar-Tass said, quoting a Northern Fleet spokesman.

A wreath and plaque left by British divers at the site where the Russian submarine the Kursk originally sunk in the Barents Sea, is seen in this recent handout photo made available Saturday, Oct. 13, 2001. All 118 officers and crew aboard died when the submarine sank after suffering a huge explosion in Aug. 2000. British divers from the British based firm DSND Subsea were involved in the lifting of the Kursk from the Barents Sea.
Photo Credits: The Associated Press / PA, DSND Subsea Ltd.

A team of Russian investigators stepped on to the wreck of the Kursk nuclear submarine for the first time on Tuesday, facing the grim prospect of recovering the remains of its doomed crew.

The 40 military investigators and forensic experts, led by Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov, began an inspection of the vessel which mysteriously exploded and sank in August last year, a navy spokesman said.

The mangled hulk of the Kursk was brought into the Arctic port of Roslyakovo near Murmansk on Sunday and work was to begin to recover the crew's remains once it had been drained.
(More: Gazeta.RU News Source)
2001 © Reuters.

Dan