Russian nuclear submarine sinks in North Sea

A Russian KA-159 nuclear submarine, which was being towed to a utilization facility, sank Saturday in the North Sea, chief of the Defense Ministry press service Nikolai Deryabin told journalists.

The accident, he said, occurred at 4:00, Moscow Time, three miles northwest of the Kildin island in the North Sea at the depth of 170 meters.

The nuclear reactor of the submarine had been made safe and the arms and ammunition had been unloaded from it, Deryabin said. One of the sub's ten crewmen has been rescued, and the bodies of two others have been fond. The search for the rest seven crewmembers continues, he said.

The towing of the KA-159 submarine with the help of four pontoons for utilization to the dockyard in the city of Polyarny had started on August 28. Separation form the pontoons occurred during a storm at night on August 29, Deryabin said in conclusion.