Naval divers continued their efforts on the seventh day to recover bodies of sailors from INS Sindhurakshak, which was rocked by blasts on August 13. The divers have so far recovered seven bodies; there were 13 sailors aboard when disaster struck.
Officials said the search will continue though very high temperature , which melted the submarine's body of steel, would have incinerated bodies in the forward section. "No timeline can be set in such cases. Finding bodies of their loved ones will give a sense of closure to the victims' families and to us for doing our duty towards our colleagues,'' officials said.
The navy has also begun salvage operations. "When the submarine is brought to the surface, we could determine the explosion cause. The bodies which divers could not see underwater can also be recovered,'' officials added.
The divers' biggest impediment is near-zero visibility due to oil-seawater sludge in the submarine and lack of depth.
"Mumbai's port has the dirtiest water. Divers are practically entering blindfolded into an unfamiliar and a constricted, flooded compartment full of live missiles and torpedoes to search for the bodies,'' an official said.
"We cannot even insert underwater material below the submarine, which when done, it gains buoyancy and automatically flats it when we complete pumping, as water continues to enter due to structural damage,'' officials said.
Wednesday 21 August 2013
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Divers-continue-search-for-bodies-in-sub/articleshow/21946358.cms
0 comments:
Post a Comment