Ilya Klebanov: Kursk wrecked because of an external factor

Vice-Premier Ilya Klebanov, who heads the government commission investigating into the causes of the submarine Kursk accident, admits that the torpedoes on board the nuclear-powered submarine could have detonated from an external factor. Klebanov said that the examination of fragments of the Kursk torpedoes is about to be completed and it will be determined whether it was an external or an internal factor that had set them off. This work is being done by a number of research institutes. The final conclusions will be made after the expert examination ends, RIA Novosti announces. However, said Klebanov, it is not ruled out that the torpedoes could have exploded as a result of the submarine's collision with another underwater object. The results of the six months' long work of the state commission will be reported to the president, stressed the Vice-premier.