World News 17-08-2000 Russian Sailors Feared Dead In Stranded Sub who: More than 100 Russian sailors what: May already be dead as Brit rescuers are called in where: Barents Sea when: Today snippet: "All 118 trapped sailors on the stricken submarine Kursk were feared dead last night - victims of obsessive Kremlin secrecy," says Will Stewart in The Express today. "Russia finally asked for help from a specialised British rescue mini-sub, but the call seemed to have come far too late to save the men freezing and suffocating 500 feet below the surface of the Barents Sea". "Last night the Deputy Prime Minister, Ilya Klebanov, warned that there were no longer any tapping noises coming from the Kursk," says The Independent. "Last night the Deputy Prime Minister, Ilya Klebanov, warned that there were no longer any tapping noises coming from the Kursk. "With the submarine listing at the hopeless angle of 60 degrees in vicious currents it appeared that Moscow was preparing its people for the worst possible scenario". Vladimir Lukin, deputy speaker of the Duma and former Ambassador to Washington, "acknowledged the unspoken truth" that has caused the lengthy the Russian navy to wait so long before accepting help from abroad, says Giles Whittell in The Times. The Russian military, said Mr Lukin, "likes to pretend that everything`s OK". "A 27-strong British team is set to leave the Norwegian port of Trondheim for the disaster site early today with an LR5 mini-sub," says The Mirror. "Swallowing its pride, the Kremlin asked Britain for help at 4pm yesterday... Anticipating the move, the LR5 team had already left Prestwick airport for Trondheim". [... more]

What The Papers Say is delivered to thousands of readers every morning by web, WAP and email. Sign up today!