Russia says some crew survived fire on research vessel ‘it won’t discuss’

Bloomberg

Russia said some crew members survived a fire that killed 14 sailors on a submersible research vessel, as the Kremlin refused to say whether a nuclear-powered submarine was involved.
The sailors who died in the country’s worst naval incident in more than a decade “behaved like heroes” to save other crew members and the vessel, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Russian state TV at the Northern Fleet’s Severomorsk base on the Barents Sea coast. After moving a civilian specialist to safety, they sealed off the affected section and stayed to extinguish the fire, he said.
The type of submersible involved is “absolutely classified” and Russia won’t disclose details of it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, in which he declined to say whether the vessel was nuclear-powered.
The vessel is linked to a secret nuclear submarine project known as Losharik, RBC news website reported, citing a person it didn’t identify.
Russia said the sailors died from smoke inhalation after the fire broke out on board the deep-water submersible that was exploring the sea bed in its territorial waters.
Norway has contacted Russian authorities, though “we haven’t seen any radioactive emissions or any kind of elevated levels” at monitoring stations, said Per Strand, director of nuclear safety and environmental protection at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority.
“Our measurements, and the Russian measurements that we have access to, don’t show any signs of emissions from the submarine,” he said.

‘Unusual Vessel’
Seven of those killed were captains first rank and two were decorated Heroes of Russia, President Vladimir Putin said.
“It’s an unusual vessel, we know, it’s a research vessel,
the crew was highly professional,” he said, as he ordered Shoigu to go to Severomorsk, where the submersible was taken after the accident.