Second note tells of sailors' last hours on Kursk

12:00 PM

MOSCOW - Investigators into Russia's Kursk submarine disaster found a second poignant note on the body of a sailor lifted from the wreck, but have failed to conclude definitely what sank the vessel, the head of the probe said.

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, speaking after a meeting of the commission investigating the disaster, read from the sailor's note relating how 23 crew who survived blasts aboard the nuclear vessel were getting progressively weaker.

"There are 23 of us here in the ninth section," Klebanov, shown on ORT public television, quoted from the note. He was referring to the rearmost part of the attack submarine, where the crew members took refuge.

"We are all feeling badly. We are getting weaker from the effects of carbon monoxide following the fire. Pressure is rising. If we get out we won't stand the compression."

Interfax news agency, quoting Klebanov, said the note concluded: "We won't hold out for more than 24 hours."

A salvage operation has recovered only 12 bodies of the 118 crew who perished in the disaster.

Klebanov, who heads the government's investigative commission, also said inspection of the wreck by divers and mini-subs did not yield enough evidence for a final conclusion on what caused the blasts.

"I cannot identify a final explanation," RIA news agency quoted him as saying.

But he said evidence gathered gave increasing credence to suggestions that the accident on August 12 had been preceded by a collision.

"One of the versions has been backed up by serious visual evidence - that of a collision," Klebanov said on ORT.

"We have discovered a very serious dent in the area of the first and second sections which could have occurred only from a blow and nothing else, big grooves of something scraping along and peeling off the outer rubber layer."

Naval commanders believe the Kursk was rammed by a foreign craft spying on Russian vessels in the area. Other versions being considered include striking a World War Two mine or an onboard explosion followed by detonation of torpedo warheads.

Klebanov said it would not be possible to identify the cause until the Kursk was lifted to the surface, possibly in mid-2001

- REUTERS

Herald Online feature: Russian sub disaster

Russian Centre for Arms Control: OSKAR subs

World Navies Today: Russian subs

Russian Navy official website