British sub accident caused by oxygen-creating device: US

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

LONDON (AFP) — Britain's Royal Navy is investigating Thursday how an air-purification system malfunctioned and killed two sailors on one of its nuclear submarine during war games in the Arctic with the US Navy.

The accident, which also injured one crewman, occurred while the HMS Tireless, a hunter-killer submarine which does not carry nuclear missiles, was under the ice cap in the Arctic Ocean during a joint exercise Wednesday.

In Washington, US Navy spokeswoman Lieutenant Li Cohen told AFP that a self-contained oxygen-generation candle, part of the air purification system, exploded, causing the accident.

Britain's Ministry of Defence did not immediately comment on the US account, nor confirm there was an explosion, but said there was no broader threat posed...