Having recovered the fifth body from one of the forward compartments of the wreckage of INS Sindhurakshak late on Friday night, Navy divers on Saturday continued their intensive search inside the sunken submarine in their bid to trace the bodies of 13 more Navy personnel charred to death in the disaster.
Though any further recoveries eluded them, they managed to open a second access to the vessel. In the meantime, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said violation of safety regulations could be the most likely cause ofthe explosions on the submarine INS Sindhurakshak because of which it sank. Rogozin, who was quoted by Russia’s official news agency Itar Tass, said India had raised no questions over the technical aspects of the submarine built and recently overhauled by Russia. He, however, said, “But things are still to be assessed in full... At the moment we are not blaming the equipment.”
In an effort to expedite the process of identification of the five recovered bodies that were in a “badly charred’ and “severely disfigured” state, Naval authorities sent the bodies to the State-run JJ Hospital on Friday night for post-mortem and DNA sampling. “The identification of all the five bodies of the crew members is being given high priority and all means including DNA profiling is being carried out,” a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.
“We have conducted post-mortem on all the five bodies that we have received so far. We have taken DNA samples and dental marks from the bodies. We have sent the DNA samples to the Forensic Science laboratory at Kalina for an analysis. The scientists there will match the DNA profiles of the dead Navy personnel with those of their parents or close relatives,” Dean of JJ Hospital TP lahane told The Pioneer.
According to post-mortem findings, all deaths have occurred due to severe burning and drowning. “While all the bodies are completely charred, the tissues in them are intact. In the X-ray and CT scans that we have done, we have not found shrapnel embedded in any of the five bodies,” lahane said. On the continuing search operations on board INS Sindhurakshak, Defence spokesperson Narendra Vispute said: “Navy divers are carrying out the task of searching within the submarine by feeling each inch due to zero visibility within the flooded compartments to locate the missing bodies and mark a probable route to be used for further search and rescue operation.”
“Navy divers working relentlessly on board INS Sindhurakshak gained a second access to the submarine late last night when they successfully pried open the rear escape hatch which was submerged below water and jammed due to high temperatures. This operation was challenging but critical,” a Navy Press release said. “Opening of the jammed forward escape hatch is also being attempted for an entry to the front portion of the submarine. Another team worked their way into one of the forward compartments and found the fifth body of the 18 missing late last night,” the release stated.
The Navy had late on Thursday released the names of all the 18 sailors, including three officers, feared killed inside the sunken submarine. Meanwhile, the Defence authorities have brought and put up the family members of 18 navy men killed in Wednesday’s twin explosions and resultant fire on board the ill-fated vessel, at an official guest house in south Mumbai.