Fifty-five Chinese sailors are feared dead after the nuclear submarine they were in was caught in a trap meant for UK and US submarine vessels, it has been claimed.
According to a leaked intelligence report, the crew of China’s PLA Navy submarine ‘093-417’ suffered a catastrophic failure, poisoning the crew on August 21.
China has denied that the incident happened and Beijing reportedly refused to request aide for the trapped sub.
A UK report into the supposedly fatal mission seen by the Daily Mail states: "Intelligence reports that on 21st of August there was an onboard accident whilst carrying out a mission in the Yellow Sea.
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"Incident happened at 08.12 local [time] resulting in the death of 55 crew members: 22 officers, 7 officer cadets, 9 petty officers, 17 sailors. Dead include the captain Colonel Xue Yong-Peng. Our understanding is death caused by hypoxia due to a system fault on the submarine.
"The submarine hit a chain and anchor obstacle used by the Chinese Navy to trap US and allied submarines. This resulted in systems failures that took six hours to repair and surface the vessel. The onboard oxygen system poisoned the crew after a catastrophic failure."
It’s believed the sinking took place in waters off China's Shandong Province.
As yet there is no independent confirmation of the suspected incident in the public domain in China.
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While Beijing has said speculation about the alleged sinking is ‘completely false’.
When approached by the newspaper, the Royal Navy declined to comment on the report.
A British submariner told the Daily Mail: “It is plausible that this occurred and I doubt the Chinese would have asked for international support for obvious reasons.
“If they were trapped on the net system and the submarine's batteries were running flat (plausible) then eventually the air purifiers and air treatment systems could have failed.
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“Which would have reverted to secondary systems and subsequently and plausibly failed to maintain the air. Which led to asphyxia or poisoning.
“We have kit which absorbs co2 and generates oxygen in such a situation. It is probable that other nations do not have this kind of tech.”
China has six Type 093 attack submarines, which are armed with 553mm torpedoes.
The nuclear subs are designed to be quieter than previous models and entered service within the last 15 years.
Topics: World News
Claire Reid