Russian sub 'stuck' underwater
2005-08-05 10:57
Vladivostok - The Russian military was racing against time early on Friday to rescue a small submarine that had become trapped on the seabed with seven crew aboard, the Ria-Novosti news agency reported.
The bathyscaphe submersible had only 24 hours of oxygen in reserve when it became stuck late on Thursday at a depth of 190m in the bay of Kamchatka in far eastern Russia, a military source told the agency.
The source, who did not want to be identified, said the mini-submarine had become attached to an as yet unidentified object during a routine exercise in the Bay of Berezovaya, about 75km from the town of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskyi.
Specialists said it could have become tangled up with a metal cable or a sunken trawler, the report said.
A spokesperson for the Pacific fleet said the crew's condition was "normal". The military prosecutor has opened an inquiry.
- AFP