WORLD : Short-Circuit Blamed for Fatal Fire Aboard Soviet Nuclear Sub
A short-circuit apparently caused a fire that led to the deaths of 42 crew members of a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine off the Norwegian coast, Izvestia said today.
The government newspaper also revealed that four of the victims died aboard the submarine when it caught fire and sank Friday. The rest apparently drowned. Twenty-nine were rescued from Arctic waters, but two died later.
“According to provisional data, the fire started as a result of an electrical short-circuit,” Sergei Vargin, head of the political department of the Soviet Northern Fleet, told Izvestia. “It started when the submarine was returning from a distant voyage and was sailing under water. When the accident happened, the submarine surfaced.”
No radioactive contamination occurred, Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov said.
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