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Russian Official Says No Signs of Life on Sub
Russia at last accepted outside help in its desperate attempt to save a submarine crew trapped on the sea bed on Wednesday, but there were fears it might be too late for 118 crew no longer showing signs of life.
The crew of the Kursk which sank over the weekend after an unexplained accident, had stopped pounding SOS signals on the hull - their only link to the outside world - but officials said there was hope they were still alive.
Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, the Navy chief, said Moscow had agreed to accept an offer of help from Britain, which airlifted a rescue mini-submarine to the nearby Norwegian port of Trondheim.
Frantic Russian efforts to dock rescue craft to the escape hatch of the Kursk had failed throughout the night. A third attempt, involving at least two rescue capsules, was under way on Wednesday but was hampered by strong currents and foul weather.
Officials had said the crew, whose number was originally put at 116, would run out of air by Friday. But Kuroyedov suggested on Wednesday that oxygen could possibly last until next week.
Interfax quoted Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, leading an emergency commission on the disaster, as saying the sailors had stopped banging on the hull, but might not yet be dead.
"There is no sign of life, but from this it is not necessary to conclude something terrible," he said, adding that the crew might be resting to conserve energy as air ran out.
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