The entire 118-strong crew on the submarine Kursk are dead, Russia's Northern Fleet Chief of Staff Mikhail Motsak said Monday.
"Our worst fears are confirmed. All the compartments of the submarine are flooded with water. None of the crew are still alive," said the top navy chief, cited by RIA-Novosti news agency.
"At 12:25 p.m. (0825 GMT) a camera was deployed in the ninth compartment of the submarine which showed that the compartment is flooded," Motsak said.
The navy was deciding how to pursue the operation onboard the stricken submarine, the vice-admiral added.
In Oslo, officials said that Russia had asked Norway to provide assistance recovering the bodies of the crew of the nuclear submarine.
"They have asked us" to help with the recovery, Karsten Klepsvik, spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, told AFP.
"We have not answered yet."
"The Norwegian dive team at the site of the wreck in the Barents Sea may be asked to carry out the task" by Norwegian authorities, Klepsvik earlier told the Norwegian news agency NTB.
The Russian request came hours after elite deep-sea divers from Norway opened hatches to the submarine and discovered the interior of the vessel flooded.
The Kursk was sent plunging to a depth of 108 meters (355 feet) on August 12th by two still-unexplained explosions which decimated the front of the vessel and probably killed most of the crew instantly according to the Russian navy - MOSCOW (AFP)
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