Russian Nuclear Sub Accident Kills More Than 20

By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 8, 2008 8:48 PM CST
Russian Nuclear Sub Accident Kills More Than 20
President Dmitry Medvedev gets out of a hatch inside the St. George the Victor nuclear powered submarine at Russian Pacific Fleet submarine base at Krasheninnikov Harbor of Kamchatka Penincula at Russian Far East on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008.   (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)

An accident aboard a nuclear-powered submarine in a training exercise has killed more than 20 people, Russian news agencies are reporting. State-run RIA-Novosti cites navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo as saying a fire-extinguishing system went into operation in error Sunday aboard the submarine during tests in the Pacific Ocean. The reactor is working normally and radiation levels are normal, says Dygalo.

Dygalo is quoted as saying the dead include sailors and shipbuilders. He says 21 others were injured and evacuated to a ship that is escorting the submarine to shore. Russia's navy has been plagued by deadly accidents. In August 2000, the Kursk nuclear sub exploded and sank in the Barents Sea, killing its entire crew of 118. (More Russia stories.)

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