Russian sub hatch open when it sank

MOSCOW, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The Russian Navy's northern fleet is holding a day of mourning Sunday for nine nuclear submarine crew members believed lost in the Barents Sea.

Russia's Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, said the loss of a K-159 nuclear-powered submarine with a crew of 10 was largely caused by negligence of navy officials, the BBC reported. One crew member survived.

Ivanov, aboard a missile cruiser to inspect the site of the incident and accompanying the wreck as it was being towed to the scrap yard, said the submarine's conning-tower hatch was open when it sank, the BBC said.

Pravda reported that Eduard Baltin, a former commander-in-chief of Russia's Black Sea Fleet who was the captain of the same submarine in 1983, said the towing of the submarine should not have been allowed.

"I had it sinking even at that time. We managed to keep it steady under water but in the above-water mode it kept losing positive buoyancy," he said.

"They should have welded all hull openings, then sealed the upper deck hatch and weld it as well. And there should have been no crew aboard."