Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has held a meeting with the commission responsible for finding out the reasons for a recent fire on a deep-sea research submersible.
A civilian was first evacuated from a Russian Navy submersible’s burning compartment, a hatch was then closed to prevent the fire from spreading, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated at a meeting intended to investigate the causes of a fire aboard a research deep-water apparatus in the Barents Sea.
“In a critical situation, the submariners acted heroically. From the compartment that was engulfed in fire, they first evacuated a civilian, an industry representative, closed the hatch behind him to prevent the fire from spreading throughout the deep-water apparatus, and they were fighting for the survivability of the ship till the end”, the minister said.
He added that “at the cost of their lives they fulfilled a difficult task; they eliminated the center of ignition, saved their comrades and the deep-water apparatus”.
“All fallen officers will be posthumously awarded with state honors”, the minister emphasized.
The minister continued by saying that all the Russian submariners who were on board the deep-sea research submersible that caught fire on 1 July were high-class military experts conducting important surveys of the Earth’s hydrosphere.
“The submariners who were on board were unique military experts, high-class professionals who conducted important surveys of the Earth’s hydrosphere”, Shoigu noted.
The Russian Defense Ministry will provide all required assistance and support to the families of submariners who died in a fire on Russia’s deep-sea submersible, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stressed.
Shoigu arrived in Severomorsk earlier on 3 July to hold a meeting with the commission responsible for finding the reasons behind the deadly fire. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the fire broke out on the submersible, which has now been towed to the Severomorsk naval base in the north of Russia, on 1 July, killing 14 submariners, who were poisoned with combustion gas. The rest of the crew was rescued.
Source: Sputnik
