Moscow - Investigators into Russia's Kursk submarine disaster found a second note on the body of a sailor lifted from the wreck, but have failed to conclude definitely what sank the vessel, the head of the inquiry said yesterday.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Ilya Klebanov, speaking after a meeting of the commission investigating the disaster, read from the sailor's note relating how 23 crew who survived blasts aboard the nuclear vessel were getting progressively weaker.
"There are 23 of us here in the ninth section," Mr Klebanov, shown on ORT public television, quoted from the note. He was referring to the rearmost part of the attack submarine, where the crew members took refuge. "We are all feeling badly. We are getting weaker from the effects of carbon monoxide following the fire. Pressure is rising. If we get out we won't stand the compression."