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St. Petersburg officials to pay compensation to families of submarine fire victims

On July, 14 submariners died in a fire on a submersible in Russian waters

ST. PETERSBURG, July 5. /TASS/. Acting Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov has signed an order to pay compensation to the families of sailors killed in the Barents Sea submarine fire on July 1, the city administration’s press service informed on Friday.

"According to this document, the families (relatives) of killed sailors will receive financial aid to the tune of 1 mln rubles ($15.772) for each family. The money will be taken from the St. Petersburg government reserve fund," the press service stated.

Earlier, Beglov expressed condolences to the families of the victims, noting that the team of sailors had been stationed in St. Petersburg.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement released on Tuesday that 14 submariners had died in a fire on a submersible in Russian waters on July 1.

"On July 1, fourteen submariners - sailors died in Russian territorial waters as a result of inhaling combustion products aboard a research submersible vehicle designated for studying the seafloor and the bottom of the World Ocean in the interests of the Russian Navy after a fire broke out during bathymetric measurements," the statement said.

The fire was extinguished "thanks to the self-sacrificing actions of the team," the Russian Defense ministry continued.