Mumbai: 2:09 pm: The Navy divers have now recovered four bodies from INS Sindhurakshak while hopes are dim over the survival of 14 others.
12:44 pm: The Navy has said that the three bodies recovered are badly disfigured and unidentifiable due to severe burns. They have now been sent for DNA testing.
11:47 am: Submariner Commander GKK Nair said, "Considering the intensity of explosion, the heat and shock waves it must have generated inside the submarine, it would be difficult to find survivors."
11:43 am: Defence PRO Narendra Vispute said eight divers are going in at a time to rescue the Navy personnel trapped inside. He also said that help is being taken from all possible sources.
11:22 am: In a press release, the Navy has said that it has recovered three bodies from INS Sindhurkashak and finding any surviving personnel within the submarine is unlikely. A statement from the Navy says, "The state of the bodies and conditions within the submarine leads to firm conclusion that finding any surviving personnel within the submarine is unlikely."
11:00 am: The Navy divers have recovered another body from INS Sindhurakshak, making it three bodies. Search is still on for 15 other Navymen.
Earlier, over 60 hours after twin blasts and massive fire on the submarine, the Navy divers found bodies of two sailors. The Navy has released the names of the sailors, informing their families of the lack of progress made and is expected to make a statement at noon.
Navy divers had been facing challenges in reaching the men trapped because of poor visibility, restricted space and the melted hull. The rescue workers are pumping out water from the submarine, hoping to make it refloat. While sources in the Navy hope the pumping out of the water is completed in the next 24 to 48 hours, the entire salvage operation could even take up to a month.
The salvage operation is turning out to be tricky and dangerous. Heavy duty pumps are being used to pump out the water from the submarine. The heat of the explosion has melted parts of the internal hull and access to the compartments has reduced as the submarine hatches have deformed.
"The divers have been successful in entering the submarine. Efforts are on to find the Navy personnel who are still trapped inside the submarine," Defence PRO Narendra Vispute said.
Meanwhile, sources have told CNN-IBN that the Indian Navy may be incapable with a rescue operation of this magnitude. Sources also say that the Navy generally contracts two Singapore firms for such operations, like the previous two incidents in the past three years. But the Indian subsidiary of one of these firms has no required equipment.
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