Rescuers cut free a Russian mini-submarine ensnared in deep-sea cables today, saving its seven crew after a three-day ordeal at the bottom of the Pacific with dwindling oxygen.
"Today was a very happy event. The intensive work to free our submarine at a depth of 200 metres brought results... Our comrades in the crew opened the hatch themselves," said Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet.
"They behaved valiantly over these 76 hours under water, we heard no complaints, all we heard was that they were fine... It is worth living for these moments."
The seamen were put on a rescue ship to be taken to hospital in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the eastern coast of the Pacific peninsula of Kamchatka for further observation.
Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet
The rescue of the AS-28, itself a rescue vehicle, was made possible by a British Scorpio underwater robot flown out to the scene, which severed the cables tangled around it.
Underwater footage aired on Russian television showed pieces of net wrapped tightly around the red-and-white-striped submarine, and the Scorpio pulling them away.
Officers had said they might only have today left to rescue the men stuck on board the AS-28, which was snarled up in fishing nets and the antenna of an underwater listening station, because of their limited air supply. It is understood they only had around 12 hours worth of oxygen when they were rescued.
The men aboard the small submarine waited out tense hours as rescuers raced to free them before the vessel's air supply ran out. The sailors put on thermal suits to protect them against temperatures of about 5 degrees Celsius (40 Fahrenheit), were told to lie flat and breathe as lightly as possible, officials said.
To conserve electricity, the submarine's lights were kept off and there was only sporadic contact with the surface.
The accident, which occurred on Thursday but only came to light the following day, stirred up memories of a botched attempt to save a Russian submarine five years ago. The nuclear-powered Kursksank in the Barents Sea in August 2000 after two huge underwater explosions and all 118 crew perished in a drama that traumatised Russia.
President Vladimir Putin was criticised for failing to break off a holiday on the Black Sea while rescuers battled in Arctic waters to reach the doomed crew. This time, Mr Putin has once again stayed silent.
Speaking from Russia, naval Commander Ian Riches, who led the British rescue team, said the operation had been "very difficult". He said the Russian mini submarine had been "well and truly trapped" and the British remote controlled sub had to be manoeuvred in a confined area.
Conditions for the trapped Russian sailors were "pretty awful" as their air ran out and levels of carbon dioxide built up. "Let's put it this way, it must be like being inside a lift trapped between floors but a lot, lot deeper, cold and lonely."
Agencies