Argentine navy reports an explosion near missing submarine
Search continues for the 44 crew members on board.
The search for the missing Argentine submarine lost in the South Atlantic will continue on, the country’s president said on Friday, nine days after it first disappeared on Nov. 15.
“The disappearance and current search of the ARA San Juan submarine has touched all Argentines,” President Mauricio Macri said while at the navy’s headquarters in Buenos Aires. “It’s a difficult moment for all, but obviously, especially for the families of the 44 crew members.”
2 SAILORS DIDN’T BOARD MISSING ARGENTINA SUBMARINE AT THE LAST MINUTE
Argentine President Mauricio Macri, pauses as he gives a statement, flanked by Defense Minister Oscar Aguad, left, and Chief of the General Staff of the Navy Marcelo Eduardo Hipolito Srur at the navy headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, Nov. 24, 2017. Macri said the international search for a submarine carrying 44 crew members that has been lost in the South Atlantic since Nov. 15 will continue and that the sub's disappearance will be investigated. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
“I’m here to guarantee you that we will carry on with the search, especially now that we have the support of all the international community,” Macri said.
He also added that a review of the recently renovated sub’s disappearance will be conducted.
“This demands a serious, deep investigation,” Macri said. “We need to understand how a submarine that had undergone a midlife refit, and that was in perfect conditions to sail, suffered this explosion.
The Argentine navy said Thursday that an explosion occurred near the time and place where the submarine went missing. Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said at a news conference that the relatives of the crew had been informed and the search would continue until there was full certainty about the fate of the vessel.
More than a dozen airplanes and ships have been participating in the multinational search across an area of some 185,000 square miles, roughly the size of Spain.
The Argentine navy said Friday that Russia is sending an Antonov transport aircraft, and a ship in the southern Patagonian port of Comodoro Rivadavia is being adapted to carry a U.S. Navy submarine rescue chamber. They will focus the search efforts on a smaller area where the explosion was recorded.
In this Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017 photo provided by Brazil's Air Force, Brazilian military aid in the search for Argentina's missing submarine as they fly on a mission over the South Atlantic, after leaving a base in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. (Brazilian Air Force via AP)
The submarine was sailing from the extreme southern port of Ushuaia to the coastal city of Mar del Plata. It was originally scheduled to arrive Monday at a navy base there.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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