NEW DELHI, February 27 (RIA Novosti) – Two sailors who went missing after an accident on board a Russian-built submarine off the coast of Mumbai on Wednesday have been confirmed as dead, India’s navy said Thursday.
The sailors were trapped inside the compartment after fire and smoke triggered the automatic closure of hatches on the Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine, the Sindhuratna, which was on a routine training mission at sea after a six-month refit in Mumbai.
The submarine was not carrying any ammunition, the Indian navy said.
Seven Indian personnel were injured and evacuated. The vessel returned to the Mumbai coast on Thursday morning. The navy said there was no explosion on board.
Indian navy chief Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi resigned on Wednesday, citing moral responsibility for the mishap, which is the navy’s third submarine accident in the last seven months.
Last August, 18 sailors died when another Russian-made Kilo-class submarine, the Sindhurakshak, sank after a series of explosions devastated the vessel. Russia offered help in investigating the accident, but India did not officially take the offer.
Russia has built 10 Kilo-class submarines for India and has already overhauled five of them: the Sindhuvir, Sindhuratna, Sindhughosh, Sindhuvijay and Sindhurakshak.
