Eleven Bodies Lifted From Kursk
Russian investigators working on the wreck of the Kursk submarine managed to retrieve the bodies of eleven members of the 118-man crew, Interfax news agency reported, quoting Russia's Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov.
All the bodies were found in the ninth compartment of the Kursk. The search of the eighth and seventh compartments turned to be vain. The investigators are examining the sixth nuclear compartment of the sub.
The Kursk sank on August 12. All 118 Kursk crew died in the accident. Only 12 bodies were recovered during a salvage operation last October. Russian rescue workers also found a note in the pocket of a submariner identified as Lt. Dmitry Kolesnikov. The note confirmed that 23 sailors had remained alive for several hours after the explosions. The survivors gathered in the ninth compartment, hoping to get out through the escape hatch but it was badly damaged by the blasts and they remained trapped. They died a slow and torturous death by suffocation.
The 18,000-ton Kursk was raised from the Barents Sea floor on October 8. The operation cost the Russian government $65 million. Russian officials said the disaster was caused by a practice torpedo, but they hope the wreck will provide clues about the cause of the tragedy.
According to Ustinov, forensic tests are going on right now. He said it might take more than a month to identify the victims.
| 
