Fuel leak caused Kursk disaster

The Russian government confirmed today that leaky torpedo fuel - and not a foreign submarine or a Second World War mine - caused the explosions that destroyed the Kursk nuclear submarine.

All 118 men on board died as it sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea in one of Russia’s worst post-Soviet disasters.

General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov made the announcement after meeting President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the prosecutor to inform the Russian public about what caused the explosion.

"The disaster occurred at 11:28 and 26.5 seconds Moscow time because of a blank torpedo explosion inside the fourth torpedo tube, which in turn triggered explosions in torpedo charge chambers in the submarine’s bow section," Ustinov said.