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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russia: submarine tragedy caused by sailor |
| 2008-11-13 |
| A top investigator says a sailor set off the fire safety system on a Russian nuclear submarine last weekend that killed 20 people. Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin says officials have opened a manslaughter investigation into the actions of the unnamed sailor, who he says confessed to the act. He gave no further details Thursday. The announcement contradicts previous official statements that the fire-extinguishing system aboard the Nerpa had gone off on its own. The Nerpa was undergoing tests Saturday in the Sea of Japan when its firefighting system activated. Freon gas asphyxiated 20 people on the sub and 21 were hospitalized. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #9 It appears that anything that could wrong aboard a submarine before and during a cruise DID > ABOUT THE ONLY THING MISSING IS THE NERPA LAUNCHING AND BEING KILLED BY ITS OWN TORPEDO/MISSLE! OR WAS IT [theme from DRAGNET here]!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-11-13 20:23 |
| #8 Most modern systems have a switch one can hold to prevent the fire suppression gas from being released until everyone is out of the area. Either Russian systems don't have such a safety feature or it was disabled/overridden. |
| Posted by: Phinetle Squank7785 2008-11-13 18:10 |
| #7 Russian philosophy has always been: 1) control from the top; 2) trust the lower levels as little as possible; 3) automate (which backs up the top two assertions); 4) don't teach the lower ratings any more than you have to. Plus initial reports were that there were several riders along for the sea trials, also, that the dead were 2 sailors and 18 riders. The riders would have had no clue what to do in case of an emergency. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2008-11-13 14:15 |
| #6 Vodka: Not just for breakfast anymore! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2008-11-13 12:30 |
| #5 Vodka is not breakfast food. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-11-13 10:00 |
| #4 Scapegoat, poor design, AND poor training? |
| Posted by: mom 2008-11-13 09:59 |
| #3 Scapegoat, poor design, or poor training? |
| Posted by: Spot 2008-11-13 09:42 |
| #2 This fire-extinguishing system is designed to be used only when the compartments are unmanned and sealed off from the rest of the ship. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2008-11-13 08:49 |
| #1 what's the point of a fire system that kills the ppl running the boat especially if it is still underwater? Are the Russian sub crews volunteer like the US? |
| Posted by: chris 2008-11-13 07:51 |