Norwegians accept failure in submarine rescue effort

Norwegian divers have determined that the Russian submarine lying on the bottom of the sea was flooded and there was no chance of finding any survivors, an official said.

Norwegian divers have determined that the Russian submarine lying on the bottom of the sea was flooded and there was no chance of finding any survivors, an official said.

Norwegian spokesman Capt. Rune Fredheim said that meant the rescue effort was over and nothing further could be done after a 10-day operation to try to recover survivors from the wrecked submarine.

"The divers have determined that the submarine is full of water. That is sad," he said. "That in practice means the rescue effort is over," he added.

There was no immediate reaction from Russian officials directing the rescue effort in the Barents Sea where the nuclear submarine Kursk was lost with 118 men during naval exercises on Aug. 12. The submarine was shattered by an enormous explosion.

The Norwegian divers managed to open an escape hatch at the rear of the Kursk, but found no sign of any survivors. Further checks indicated the entire submarine was flooded, Fredheim said.

The Norwegians managed to lever the escape hatch open with a tool after working for more than 24 hours, officials said. An inner hatch was then slightly opened, but it became clear that the whole submarine was flooded, they said.

Rescue officials said there were no plans to deploy a British rescue mini-submarine which was standing by on a ship at the rescue scene. The divers had determined the British vessel could do nothing.

Russian officials had said earlier that the emphasis of the rescue operation was turning to ways to bring up the Kursk and recovering its two nuclear reactors. The Norwegian divers found no sign of radiation leaks.

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Moscow would make an international appeal for funds to raise the Kursk because of the enormous expense. He indicated the salvage operation could take weeks just to draw up plans.

"Not a single country on its own can handle such an operation," he was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Strong criticism continued in the Russian media and among many ordinary people of the way the government has handled the rescue operation. Moscow initially refused to accept Western aid and gave contradictory reports, claiming for days that it was in touch with the crew only to later back down.

Much of the criticism centered on President Vladimir Putin because he did not interrupt his summer vacation and return to Moscow when the disaster broke. The president, looking tired and under pressure, has been trying to show that he is now playing a major role, saying rescue efforts would continue until the last moment.

New details continued to emerge of how severely the Kursk was damaged when it sank during naval exercises with reports from the sea bottom that large parts of the hull were literally ripped apart.

A probable scenario was that a torpedo in the Kursk's forward compartment exploded, setting off a much bigger explosion. U.S. and Norwegian authorities detected two explosions in the area at the time the Kursk was lost.