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Flaws in probe of Russian submarine disaster: Experts 13 Nov 2008 MOSCOW: Defence experts here have expressed reservations over the investigation panel putting blame on an "unauthorised" sailor on-board for switching off the fire-extinguishing system of K-152 Nerpa nuclear submarine that killed 20 people. "Only crew members with the rank of senior officers have an access to the system. It is impossible to simply switch on the system with multi-level protection," an unnamed source was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti. Chief of the Russian Public Chamber's committee overseeing law-enforcement agencies, famous lawyer Anatoly Kucherena has also raised the eyebrows at the investigators' pointing finger at an ordinary sailor. "What senior officers were doing on the submarine? What was their role in the tragic incident, how they were controlling fire safety system? These are the questions which should be answered by the investigators," Kucherena told Vesti FM radio. According to him the experts should explore the possibility of re-occurrence of unauthorised switching of fire-control system and establish why an unauthorised person could ever switch it on. Earlier today the spokesman for the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor-General's Office Vladimir Markin had declared that a sailor of the crew had switched on the fire-extinguishing system "without authorisation and any reason" leading to the deaths of 20 people on board the nuclear submarine undergoing trials in the Sea of Japan on Saturday night. Markin also said that the sailor, whose name is not being disclosed 'in the interests of investigation' has confessed and faces a seven year sentence if found guilty by the court. courtesy |
