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By Andrei
Shukshin
MOSCOW
(Reuters) - Russian divers recovered a fourth body from
the wreck of the Kursk submarine on Thursday but were forced
to halt the operation to find the remains of other crew
members because of worsening weather.
Itar-Tass
news agency quoted Vyacheslav Popov, the commander of the
Northern Fleet to which the Kursk belonged, as saying the
body had been found when the divers inspected the eighth
and ninth compartments of the nuclear-powered vessel.
The
Kursk plunged to the floor of the Barents Sea on August
12, killing all 118 crew, in Russia's worst naval disaster.
Divers
recovered the first three corpses from the compartments
on Wednesday. The stern part of the craft suffered least
from a series of mysterious explosions which plunged the
Kursk to the seabed.
Seven
sailors were believed to be posted in the eighth compartment
and three in the ninth at the time of the blasts.
Popov
said the divers had to be brought to the surface soon after
midnight because of a gathering storm in this area of the
Arctic.
He said
increased water movement inside the submarine threatened
their lives.
At the
same time, a team of Norwegian divers who remained outside
the Kursk pressed on with efforts to cut a hole into the
seventh compartment which the Russians could not access
from within because a corridor leading to it was too narrow.
Popov
said the Norwegians had completed some 10 percent of the
work on a man-sized hole in the outer ``soft'' hull but
might also soon be forced to withdraw because of the weather.
Tass
said the weather forecast for the next three days did not
favor the divers with storms expected to rage above safety
limits.
Despite
the difficult operating environment, the lifting of the
first bodies gave a welcome boost to the operation which
many said should be canceled because of huge risks run by
the divers going inside the shattered vessel.
Relatives
of the crew, who wrangled a promise to recover the bodies
from President Vladimir Putin during an emotional meeting
in the aftermath of the disaster, have called for the government
to call off the salvage attempt.
But
Putin, stung by harsh public criticism of his lack of leadership
during the crisis, insisted it go ahead as planned.
The
operation is being conducted by the Norwegian arm of U.S.
oil services firm Halliburton which sent its offshore platform,
Regalia, to the disaster site. Its contract stipulates that
only Russian divers go inside the submarine.
Russian
navy commanders have said the operation could be stopped
at any minute if divers' lives were at risk.
The
divers must cut a total of seven holes to reach all parts
of the craft where crew remains might be found.
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