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DATE=8/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIAN SUB (L-2ND UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-265653
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
INTRO:  Russia's navy now says there is little hope of 
finding any survivors on the nuclear submarine Kursk a 
week after it sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea.  
The chief of staff of Russia's Northern Fleet says it 
is likely that the crew in the front of the submarine 
died instantly when an explosion ripped through it.  
Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from Moscow.
TEXT:  Vice admiral Mikhail Motsak told a Russian 
State T-V interviewer there is almost no chance anyone 
has survived aboard the Kursk.
            /// MOTSAK ACT IN RUSSIAN AND FADE ///
It is most likely, he said, the whole front section 
flooded and the crewmen working there were killed in 
the first minutes of the accident.
But, Mr. Motsak said, there were tapping sounds from 
the back of the submarine in the hours after the 
accident.
            /// MOTSAK ACT IN RUSSIAN AND FADE ///
The knocking signals from the crew at the back let us 
know that section was also flooding and oxygen was low 
and air pressure was increasing.
Mr. Motzak said the absence of any more S-O-S tappings 
since Monday probably means they had crossed the 
critical survival threshold.
/// MOTZAK ACT IN RUSSIAN AND FADE ///
Mr. Motsak told R-T-R  T-V it is the gravest disaster 
that he has ever known in the history of Russia's 
elite nuclear fleet.
Mr. Motzak's statements -- made in an emotion-filled 
voice with his head bowed -- formalize private fears 
among relatives of the submarine's crew.  Earlier in 
the day, a roll call of the 118 sailors of the Kursk 
appeared on T-V, almost like a memorial.
The Itar-Tass news agency reports that the committee 
in charge of determining what happened to the Kursk 
has concluded that a massive explosion is the likely 
cause of the accident.
            /// REST OPT ///
Seismologists in Norway say they detected two 
explosions in the area of the Kursk last Saturday.  
Vice Admiral Motzak told Russian T-V he does not rule 
out collision with an unexploded World War Two mine 
that could have triggered a second explosion in the 
front torpedo compartment.
Navy officials say rescue operations will continue in 
an effort to evacuate the crew of the Kursk -- dead or 
alive.  British and Norwegian teams will be joining 
the effort later in the night. (Signed)
NEB/LMK/DW/JP
19-Aug-2000 20:59 PM EDT (20-Aug-2000 0059 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.