Ketan's Word List and RC Passage 13-08-2013
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An Indian navy submarine has caught fire and sunk with about 18 crew on board after an explosion at a port in Mumbai.
"There are some people who are trapped on board, we are in the process of trying to rescue them, we suspect it to be in the range of 18," said navy spokesman PVS Satish.
"We will not give up until we get to them," Satish told Reuters.
Indian news channel NDTV said a loud explosion was heard and a huge flame leapt up in the sky. Nearly a dozen fire engines rushed to the dockyard to douse the fire, it said. They extinguished the fire in about two hours.
The explosion inside the INS Sindhurakshak was probably an accident, Satish said. Photos distributed by social media users appeared to show a large fireball over the navy dock where the diesel-electric submarine was berthed.
It submerged at its berth in the naval dockyard early on Wednesday, with only a portion visible above the surface.
The 16-year-old Russian-made submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, had recently returned from Russia after undergoing an overhaul and upgrade, Rahul Bedi, an analyst for the independent Jane's Information Group, said.
India has 14 diesel-powered submarines, he said.
Last year, India acquired a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine for its navy on a 10-year lease from Russia at a total cost of nearly $1bn.
On Saturday, India activated the atomic reactor on its first domestically designed and built nuclear submarine, which the navy could deploy in the next two years.
India has steadily built up its naval capabilities in recent years, spurred by its rivalry with China.
this article reports about the sinking of an indian submarine