56 Bodies Extracted From Kursk Submarine, 53 Of Them Identified

53 of the 56 sailors' bodies extracted from the wreck of the nuclear submarine Kursk have been identified, Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Vyacheslav Popov told journalists on Sunday. "The search for more bodies will continue until all debris have been cleared away from the submarine's compartments," he said. "This may take several months." Speaking about a technical log discovered in one of the vessel's energy systems, the admiral said that the "notes it contains are purely technical and are of no use as far as the cause of the catastrophe is concerned." He also said the Kursk's seven remaining cruise missiles "will be fixed to the hull and cut out together with the launch silos in the course of utilization." The nuclear-powered cruiser Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000, killing all 118 crew on board. Earlier in the day, Admiral Popov attended a ceremony of laying flower garlands to the monument of Motherland in the Commemoration and Mourning Hall of the Great Patriotic War Museum on Poklonnaya Gora.