MOSCOW, January 29 (RIA Novosti) - An investigation
into an accident on board a Russian nuclear submarine will be
completed by March 2009, a source in the investigation
commission said on Thursday.
The accident occurred late on November 8 last year while
the Nerpa submarine was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of
Japan. Three submariners and 17 shipyard workers died in the
accident. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, on
board the vessel at the time.
"We will wrap up the investigation into the Nerpa accident
in February and expect the case to be referred to the court as
early as in March," the source said.
He added that the investigation supported the conclusion
that the tragedy had been caused by mishandling of a
temperature sensor on board the submarine.
A serving crew member on the Nerpa, Dmitry Grobov, has
been charged with "involuntary manslaughter" and may face a
sentence of up to five years in prison.
The accident on K-152 Nerpa, an Akula II class
nuclear-powered attack submarine, was the Russian Navy's worst
since the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000, which
claimed the lives of all 118 personnel on board.
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