Indian prime minister laments loss of life in Mumbai submarine blast
Navy chief says there were two simultaneous explosions, although their cause is unknown
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the probable deaths of 18 sailors in an explosion on board a submarine was "all the more painful" given the nation's recent strides in modernising its military.
In an Independence Day speech in New Delhi yesterday, Singh said the nation was "deeply pained that we lost the submarine". "We pay homage to the brave hearts we have lost," he said.
The explosion and subsequent fire inside the Russian-built, diesel-powered INS Sindhurakshak at a navy dock in Mumbai on Wednesday is a setback for the navy as the country seeks to bolster its military amid a build-up by neighbour China. On Saturday, India activated the atomic reactor on its first indigenously built submarine, and two days later showed off its first domestically built aircraft carrier.
The Sindhurakshak, whose name means "protector of the ocean", is a Kilo class submarine. It returned to Mumbai earlier this year after a US$133 million refit at a shipyard in Russia following a fatal blast on board in 2010, according to India's defence ministry.
Wednesday's explosion was the worst-ever disaster for India's submarine programme, according to Uday Bhaskar, a former Indian Navy commodore and now a defence analyst at the Society for Policy Studies in New Delhi.
The blast occurred at a dockyard less than 1.5 kilometres from the city's luxury Taj Mahal hotel. It took the Mumbai fire brigade more than two hours to bring the blaze under control as flames illuminated the night sky.