First bodies found in submarine explosion

AFP news agency quoted an Indian Navy source on August 16 as saying that divers had recovered the first two bodies of 18 sailors feared to have died in a submarine explosion in Mumbai on August 14.

"Two bodies have been recovered and this has been confirmed. The search for the missing is still on," Indian Navy spokesman PVS Satish said.

The naval shipyard where the submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank in Mumbai. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Indian Navy divers have now entered the ship and are trying to pump water out of some compartments in an attempt to refloat it.

INS Sindhurakshak has six compartments, the hull has two layers, in which the outer shell and the pressure shell are 5m apart.

A navy official said the ship was now flooded and its estimated displacement was about 7,000 tons, making it difficult to salvage.

Once the rescue phase is complete, the salvage team will use X-rays to take pictures of the cracks and devise ways to refloat the ship. It is expected that larger cracks may be located at the bottom of the ship.

Normally, people use airbags to make submarines float, but this is not possible at present.

An investigation committee has been set up to determine the cause of the initial explosion, which detonated some of the ship's weapons and turned the newly upgraded ship into a fireball after 16 years of operation./.

According to (Vietnam+) - DT