INS Sindhuratna after it was brought to the naval dockyard late on Thursday evening for inspection and repairs (inset) Lieutenant Commander Kapish Muwal and Lieutenant Manoranjan Kumar
Lieutenant Commander Kapish Muwal first noticed the fire. He called Lieutenant Kumar to help him contain it and asked everybody else on the sub to evacuate.
Lieutenant Commander Kapish Muwal and Lieutenant Manoranjan Kumar, the two officers who died in Wednesday's mishap on board Sindhuratna submarine, laid down their lives while trying to make sure everybody else on the sub made it to safety.
According to initial investigations and survivor accounts, Lt Commander Muwal was the first to notice smoke in the sailors' chamber and his immediate reaction was to alert others on board and direct everybody else in the chamber to leave.
He then radioed Lieutenant Manoranjan Kumar to help him contain the fire. Lieutenant Kumar rushed to Lieutenant Commander Muwal's help, even as he initiated evacuation process and instructed that the sub be raised to the surface.
As the two officers tried to contain the fire using fire extinguishers and waited for an all-clear signal from their colleagues, sources said they choked on an unsanctioned quantity of Freon gas released from the fire extinguishers.
The sub took around 20 minutes to rise to the surface and rest of the crew was air lifted to Naval Dockyard. Lt Commander Muwal and Lt Commander Kumar, however, did not emerge from the sailors' chamber and were declared missing. Their bodies were found on Thursday when the sub was toed to the dockyard for inspection and repairs.
Sindhuratna is a Kilo-class Russian-made submarine and Freon is commonly used as fire suppressant in these subs.
Naval sources revealed that Freon has different chambers through which it travels to different compartments. However, in INS Sindhuratna case the two officers restricted the gas circulation to the chamber from which they were operating.
Naval spokesperson Commander Rahul Sinha said: "Whatever happened on board INS Sindhuratna is difficult to reconstruct at the moment, but it will come up before the inquiry team."
The post-mortem of the two naval officers was conducted at JJ Hospital by medical officers of the Coroner's Court under commander Navneet Nath of INHS Asvini. The team that conducted the post-mortem said that the bodies are charred and have started decomposing already.
A case in this regard has been registered with the Yellow Gate police. On Friday, a wreath laying ceremony will be held at INHS Asvini, said sources.
Lieutenant Commander Kapish Muwal and Lieutenant Manoranjan Kumar, the two officers who died in Wednesday's mishap on board Sindhuratna submarine, laid down their lives while trying to make sure everybody else on the sub made it to safety.
According to initial investigations and survivor accounts, Lt Commander Muwal was the first to notice smoke in the sailors' chamber and his immediate reaction was to alert others on board and direct everybody else in the chamber to leave.
He then radioed Lieutenant Manoranjan Kumar to help him contain the fire. Lieutenant Kumar rushed to Lieutenant Commander Muwal's help, even as he initiated evacuation process and instructed that the sub be raised to the surface.
As the two officers tried to contain the fire using fire extinguishers and waited for an all-clear signal from their colleagues, sources said they choked on an unsanctioned quantity of Freon gas released from the fire extinguishers.
The sub took around 20 minutes to rise to the surface and rest of the crew was air lifted to Naval Dockyard. Lt Commander Muwal and Lt Commander Kumar, however, did not emerge from the sailors' chamber and were declared missing. Their bodies were found on Thursday when the sub was toed to the dockyard for inspection and repairs.
Sindhuratna is a Kilo-class Russian-made submarine and Freon is commonly used as fire suppressant in these subs.
Naval sources revealed that Freon has different chambers through which it travels to different compartments. However, in INS Sindhuratna case the two officers restricted the gas circulation to the chamber from which they were operating.
Naval spokesperson Commander Rahul Sinha said: "Whatever happened on board INS Sindhuratna is difficult to reconstruct at the moment, but it will come up before the inquiry team."
The post-mortem of the two naval officers was conducted at JJ Hospital by medical officers of the Coroner's Court under commander Navneet Nath of INHS Asvini. The team that conducted the post-mortem said that the bodies are charred and have started decomposing already.
A case in this regard has been registered with the Yellow Gate police. On Friday, a wreath laying ceremony will be held at INHS Asvini, said sources.
No comments:
Post a Comment