DATE=8/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIAN SUB (L-2ND UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-265587
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian officials are consulting with NATO
experts in Brussels about ways to help 118 sailors
trapped on board the Kursk nuclear submarine. The
Russian ship sank Saturday and is lying on the bottom
of the Barents Sea. Correspondent Laurie Kassman has
the latest from Moscow.
TEXT: Oxygen supplies aboard the stranded submarine
are diminishing and so are hopes of finding any
survivors. Russian navy officials had said the oxygen
would run out this week but now suggest it could
somehow last another seven days.
British and Norwegian rescue teams are racing to the
accident site but probably won't get there until
Saturday. Russian attempts to save the crew so far
have been aborted because of faulty equipment, bad
weather and underwater currents that are pushing the
diving bells off course.
Russia resisted foreign offers of help for several
days but now is consulting with NATO on what its
experts might be able to provide.
Public anger is growing over the government's
inadequate response to the disaster. And, newspaper
headlines are asking why President Vladimir Putin has
remained mostly silent at his holiday resort on the
Black Sea.
A Navy spokesman says film taken of the wrecked
submarine shows extensive damage from the top to the
back fin. The periscope was also still up, indicating
the ship sank so fast the crew did not have time to
react. Experts say the evidence points to a powerful
on-board explosion as the cause of the accident.
There are also reports now that the ship was not
carrying extra rescue equipment or oxygen supplies
because it had only planned to be at sea for weekend
training exercises.
The Kursk was the largest and newest of Russia's
nuclear fleet - the pride of the Navy. Military
experts also are wondering out loud about radiation
leakage from the sunken nuclear-powered submarine and
its affect on the crew inside and the environment
outside. So far, monitors are not picking up any
contamination in the area.
Russia's Prime Minister now describes the situation as
almost catastrophic. (Signed)
NEB/LMK/GE/KBK
17-Aug-2000 11:53 AM EDT (17-Aug-2000 1553 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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