DATE=8/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA SUB (L)
NUMBER=2-265512
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A special British rescue team is getting ready
to aid in efforts to save the crew of a stricken
Russian submarine. V-O-A's Jim Randle reports.
TEXT: British officials tell V-O-A, London has
offered the services of specialized rescue submarine,
which can be airlifted close to the accident scene.
News reports from Britain (on the BBC and the Press
Association) say a 20 member team is ready to fly out
of Scotland Wednesday morning aboard an outsized (very
large) Russian cargo plane.
Other reports say Russian officials conferred
informally with their NATO counterparts in Brussels
about what kinds of help might be available from the
alliance.
Tuesday, U-S Defense Secretary William Cohen repeated
a U-S offer to help with the rescue. Pentagon
spokesman Craig Quigley says Washington could send
specialized undersea vehicles, technical advise, or
medical help.
/// QUIGLEY ACT ///
We stand ready to do what we can if that request
comes.
/// END ACT ///
Meantime, the Russian Navy is desperately trying to
save the lives of 116 crewmen stranded aboard a
wrecked nuclear submarine sitting more than 100 meters
below the surface.
Russian Admirals say the chance of a successful rescue
is slim, but more than a dozen naval vessels are on
the scene trying to save their comrades.
The damaged sub, one of Russia's newest and largest,
has been on the bottom of the ocean for several days
now, with its reactors shut down. Without the
avbility to reprocess the vessel's air supply the crew
can survive for only a limited time. (Signed)
NEB/JR/TVM/PT
15-Aug-2000 18:01 PM EDT (15-Aug-2000 2201 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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