Russia pulling remains of sailors from wreck of nuclear submarine

MOSCOW (AP) -- Investigators have pulled the remains of 11 sailors from the nuclear submarine Kursk and spotted three more bodies inside, Russia's prosecutor-general said Friday.

Three of the bodies were removed from the wreck on Thursday and the other eight on Friday, Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov said, according to the Interfax news agency.

"Exactly how many of our heroes we'll manage to get out of the vessel is still hard to say, but in the ninth compartment there are at least three bodies," Ustinov said.

Meanwhile, investigators entered the reactor section of the submarine, Interfax said, citing naval Commander in chief Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov.

"Once again we saw that everything was in order in the section. There is no water and background radiation is within permitted limits," Kuroyedov said.

Adm. Vyacheslav Popov, Russia's Northern Fleet commander, told Interfax that the investigators would cut all cables and weld shut all the openings in the compartment where the vessel's two nuclear reactors are located. He said that the same procedures are followed when decommissioned submarines are dismantled.