Oxygen Supply System Failure Also Played a Role
Chinese Government Denies: “Not True”
Reports have emerged that a Chinese naval nuclear submarine has sunk, killing all 55 crew members.
A composite image to aid in understanding the article, created by China’s Oh Sung-hong using the AI image creation program ‘Bing Image Creator.’ / crystal51-shutterstock.com, MS Bing Image Creator
On December 3 (local time), the British media outlet Daily Mail, citing a British confidential report, stated, “The Chinese nuclear submarine numbered 093-417 appears to have sunk after being caught in a trap set by China to catch British or American submarines, resulting in the death of all 55 crew members.” After the report, other local media outlets, such as The Times, also published articles with similar narratives.
According to the media, the report covered the nuclear submarine sinking incident that occurred off the coast of Shandong Province, China, on August 21. The report suggests that the incident happened when the Chinese naval submarine collided with chains and anchor obstacles to trap submarines from countries such as the U.S. and the UK.
The incident resulted in the Chinese submarine needing repairs, and it took approximately six hours to surface it.
The 55 crew members on board, including officers (22), officer cadets (7), non-commissioned officers (9), and sailors (17), reportedly died of hypoxia due to a malfunction in the oxygen system.
Last month, rumors about the submarine circulated on social media, but China denied the facts. The British Ministry of Defense also refused to comment on the incident.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, an anonymous British naval submarine crew member stated, “If the submarine was trapped and its battery ran out, then eventually the air purifier and air handling system could have failed.”
He added, “They would have failed to maintain the air supply, leading to suffocation or poisoning. The British navy has kits that absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen in such situations, but, likely, other countries do not have this kind of technology.”
Some analysts suggested that the Chinese government may have refrained from requesting international assistance due to the burden of the incident becoming public knowledge.
Chinese authorities still maintain that the submarine sinking is “completely false.”
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