Fire kills fourteen sailors aboard Russian navy submersible

Fourteen Russian sailors were killed as a fire broke out aboard a navy research submersible, the Russian defence ministry says.

The crew was poisoned by fumes as the vessel was taking measurements in Russian territorial waters on Monday.

The ministry gave no details about the type of vessel. But Russian media reports say it was a nuclear mini-submarine used for special operations.

The incident was the deadliest involving a Russian naval submarine since August 2000, when the nuclear-powered Kursk sank to the floor of Barents Sea after two explosions in its bow, killing all 118 men aboard.

The fire was later put out and the vessel is now at Severomorsk, the main base of the Russian Northern Fleet.

The defence ministry did not say how many crew members were aboard at the time. Reports in local media say several crew were injured and taken to hospital.

“This is a great loss for the navy,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised meeting with his defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.

“We express our deepest condolences to the families of those who died. We will do everything we can to support them,” said Putin, who cancelled a public engagement on Tuesday afternoon to deal with the incident.

Putin told Shoigu to fly to Severomorsk, the Russian naval base on the Barents Sea where the submarine is now located, to find out what caused the incident, and then report back to him.

Seven captains and two service personnel awarded Russia's highest honorary title, Hero of the Russian Federation, were among those who died on board the vessel, the president said.