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Sailor held for Russian submarine accident

— PHOTO: AP

Tearful farewell: A funeral ceremony of a victim of the accident aboard the submarine Nerpa, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia’s Far-East, on Wednesday.

MOSCOW: An inquiry into the poisoning of people aboard an India-bound nuclear submarine blamed the accident on a sailor.

A spokesman for Russia’s Investigation Committee said on Thursday that an official inquiry had established that a crewmember activated the vessel’s fire extinguishing system “without authorisation and for no reason.”

A poisonous gas, Freon, released into a compartment where crewmen were asleep killed 20 people and injured another 21 last Saturday.

The newly-built submarine, Nerpa, was undergoing sea trials before being leased to the Indian Navy next year for a period of 10 years.

The spokesman said the sailor had already confessed to the act, but the probe is still on.

Earlier, official statements said the fire control system had gone off due to some technical or computer malfunction.

A Russian Navy officer has questioned the findings of the official investigation.

The unnamed member of the Nerpa crew told reporters the accused sailor could not have activated the system.

“We do not believe he could have done it either deliberately or accidentally,” the officer said.

“We have served together with him since 2003, he is a competent specialist. We fear he could have confessed under coercion,” he further added.

Whatever the cause of the submarine accident, officials said it had not damaged any equipment aboard the submarine and would not delay its induction.

Russian Chief of Staff General Nikolai Makarov said the sea trials of the submarine should round off before the end of the year.

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