Kursk due to be raised later this week

An international team of divers is expected to raise the sunken Russian submarine Kursk later this week.

The stricken nuclear vessel is currently lying 356 feet below the Barents Sea after an explosion on board that killed all 118 crew members in August 2000.

The Kursk was due to be raised on September 15 but the operation has been repeatedly delayed because of storms and technical difficulties.

The Russians want to raise the submarine to recover the bodies of the dead crew, to ensure the vessel’s two nuclear reactors are safe and to investigate what caused the explosion which crippled the craft.