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The five bodies were found by naval divers from
the 3000 tonne INS Sindhurakshak, which was recently
refurbished in Russia and which suffered explosions
and fire as it went down after Aug 13-14 midnight.
"Efforts to trace and retrieve the other
13 bodies of sailors are underway on a war footing
and we are hopeful of further recoveries by late
this evening," an official said.
These five were among the 15 sailors and three
officers who got trapped in the submarine berthed
at the Mumbai dock once disaster struck. Eight
of the sailors were married.
The bodies were sent to the government-run Sir
J.J. Hospital for autopsy, DNA and other tests
to ascertain their identity.
The search operation has slowed down as only
one diver can work at a time owing to the cramped
space inside the submarine.
Also, all equipment in the deep sea fighter vessel
has shifted from their original location due to
deformation caused by the explosions and heat
generated by them.
In a statement, the Navy said "the state
of (the bodies) and conditions within the submarine
leads to the firm conclusion that finding any
surviving personnel is unlikely.
"The damage and destruction within the submarine
around the control room area indicates that the
feasibility of locating bodies of personnel in
the forward part of the submarine is also very
remote as the explosion and very high temperatures,
which melted steel within, would have incinerated
the bodies too," the statement added.
The bodies extricated from the submarine "are
severely disfigured and not identifiable due to
severe burns", the Navy said, adding they
have been sent to INHS Asvini, the naval hospital,
for possible DNA identification.
This "is likely to take some more time".
It said the boiling waters inside the submarine
prevented any entry till Aug 14 afternoon.
"Access to the inner compartments of the
submarine was made almost impossible due to jammed
doors and hatches, distorted ladders, oily and
muddy waters inside the submerged submarine resulting
in total darkness and nil visibility ... even
with high-power underwater lamps.
"Distorted and twisted metal within very
restricted space due extensive internal damage
caused by the explosion further worsened conditions
for the divers.
"This resulted in very slow and laboured
progress," the statement said.
After hours of "continuous diving effort
in these conditions", Navy divers finally
reached the second compartment behind the conning
tower early Aug 16.
The divers were concentrating on reaching the
interiors of the submarine to "locate and
extricate any remaining bodies that may still
be trapped within".
"Salvage of the submarine would only be
attempted thereafter for which many alternatives
including deploying professional salvers are also
being considered.
"However, presently, gaining access to the
submarine and locating bodies is the top priority,"
the statement said.
The heat of the explosion had melted parts of
the internal hull deforming the submarine hatches,
preventing access to different compartments.
Heavy duty pumps were used to pump out the seawater
from the submarine.
The families of the 18 personnel were being provided
regular updates.
The Navy feels that some of the armaments inside
the deep sea fighter vessel, stored on the rear
side may be recovered undamaged as the flames
did not completely gut that portion of the submarine.
(IANS)
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