Officer missing in aircraft carrier fire died while trying to rescue workers trapped inside – Russian Navy
An officer, previously missing during a massive fire on Russia’s Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, perished in the incident while trying to evacuate civilians who had been repairing the ship, the Russian Navy has confirmed.
The Admiral Kuznetsov caught fire on Thursday, when sparks from a welder in an engine room reportedly caused fuel inside the carrier’s cargo hold to combust. The fire then spread throughout the vessel, taking almost a full day to put out.
One of the sailors helping to fight the fire died in the incident, while another was deemed missing until Friday, when his body was found deep inside the hull of Russia’s only aircraft carrier, according to the navy statement. 14 others were treated afterwards for smoke inhalation.
The slain officer, whose name has been withheld, was in charge of damage control at the vessel that docked at the northern port of Murmansk for comprehensive repairs. Shortly after the fire broke out, he tried to reach and evacuate civilian workers who had been welding metal downstairs, but apparently failed to get out alive, the navy revealed.
Eventually, all workers were evacuated from the vessel, and the fire was completely extinguished by Friday morning.
Admiral Kuznetsov, designed to launch and land Su-33 fighter jets, was commissioned by the Russian Navy back in 1991. Before going for refit in 2018, it saw a brief deployment in Mediterranean waters, supporting a Russian anti-Islamic State operation in Syria.
The navy plans to upgrade electronics and a fire control system on the 55,000-ton ship by 2020, while also modernizing its unreliable power plant. It is expected to go on sea trials in 2021, becoming a mainstay of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet again.
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