Mystery surrounds deaths of sub crew

THE entire 70-man crew of a diesel-powered Chinese submarine was killed when the vessel had an “accident” while on an exercise in the Yellow Sea, the official Xinhua News Agency revealed yesterday.

The brief Chinese-language report said the accident occurred recently in Chinese waters east of the Neichangshan islands, which lie between the north-eastern province of Liaoning and North Korea.

The submarine was on an exercise when the accident occurred, and “because of a mechanical malfunction, the 70 crew members on board died”, the Xinhua report said, without providing further details.