ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2019) Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Thursday expressed condolences to Russia over deaths of 14 submariners as a result of the fire on board Russia's deep-water research submersible and heavy floods in the Irkutsk Region that claimed lives of 21 people.
"I have expressed and confirm my government and the Italian people's closeness, I have expressed my condolences in connection with the death of 14 submariners, who were on board the Russian submersible, and over the tens of victims caused by the flood," Conte said following his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Rome.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that a fire broke out on July 1 on the research submarine designed to conduct studies in the interests of the Russian Navy. Fourteen submariners died as a result of poisoning with combustion gas. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that a fire in battery compartment was the main reason behind the incident.
The state of emergency was declared in the Tulunsky, Chunsky, Nizhneudinsky, Tayshetsky, Ziminsky and Kuytunsky districts of the Irkutsk Region in connection with heavy floods that hit the region last week. Regional as well as Federal authorities are making efforts to provide those affected by the disaster with necessary aid. According to the latest data, as many as 21 people were killed and 313 more were hospitalized as a result of the floods.
