INS Sindhurakshak tragedy: Four bodies recovered

New Delhi, Aug 16: The four bodies out of the 18 Indian Navy personnel feared dead in the tragic incident of the INS Sindhurakshak submarine, have been recovered from salvage operations, on Friday.

As per latest updates, the fourth dead body of the Navy personnel has been recovered just now.

According to reports, divers have recovered three dead bodies from the wreckage of the ill-fated submarine, early this morning.

The Navy sources said, "Three bodies have been recovered from the submarine by our divers but their identity has not yet been ascertained."

Meanwhile, the recovered bodies have been sent to the Naval hospital for the DNA identification.

The fate of 15 more sailors was still uncertain as rescue efforts continued since the past 36 hours, an official said requesting anonymity.

The identity of the bodies, or their condition, is still not known.

Names of 18 Navy personnel:

On Thursday, the Navy had released the names of the three officers and 15 sailors who were in the 16-year-old warship.

The three officers are Lieutenant Commanders Nikhilesh Pal, Alok Kumar and R Venkitaraj.

The sailors stuck inside the Kilo class vessel are Sanjeev Kumar, KC Upadhya, Timothy Sinha, Kewal Singh, Sunil Kumar Dasari Prasad, Liju Lawrence, Rajesh Tootika, Amit K Singh, Atul Sharma, Vikas E Naruttam Deuri, Malay Haldar, Vishnu V and Seetaram Badapalli.

Eight of these 15 personnel, including two officers, were married.

Poor visibility hampers rescue operation:

The divers' efforts are seriously hampered by poor visibility conditions inside the submarine which is filled with water, extremely restricted spaces and displacement of most of the equipment from their original locations.

The heat of the explosion had melted parts of the internal hull deforming the submarine hatches, preventing access to different compartments.

Heavy duty pumps have been deployed to pump out the seawater from the sunken submarine.

The cause of the explosions and a raging fire - to which the submarine succumbed within six hours and sank - is still not clear nearly three days after the incident.

The Navy Chief is expected to make an official statement later in the day.

INS Sindhurakshak exploded and sank at the Mumbai dockyard early on Wednesday.

OneIndia News

(With Agency inputs)