14 submariners killed in fire in Russia: Defence Ministry

Fourteen seamen have died in a fire on a deep submersible, Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday, adding the vessel was currently at a military base in the northern city of Severomorsk. "On July 1, a fire broke out during biometric measurements on a scientific research deep-sea submersible," the defence ministry said.

Fourteen submariners died as a result of poisoning from the fumes of the fire, a ministry spokeswoman confirmed to AFP. The fire has been put out, the ministry said, adding an investigation was underway.

The research was conducted to study areas near the seabed and the seabed itself of the ocean in the interests of the Russian naval fleet, the ministry said. The tragedy has echoes -- albeit on a smaller scale -- of the sinking of the Kursk submarine in August 2000 that claimed the lives of 118 personnel.

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