LOSING HOPE

‘Explosion’ Recorded Where Argentine Submarine Disappeared

Friends and family of the 44 missing crew members have been informed.

The Argentine navy on Thursday said an event consistent with an explosion occurred near the site where a submarine went missing with 44 people on board last week. With more than a dozen countries joining in the search for the ARA San Juan, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said an “abnormal, singular, short, violent, non-nuclear event” had been recorded in the south Atlantic where the vessel disappeared last Wednesday. Balbi said search operations will continue but friends and family of the missing crew members have been informed of the suspected explosion. Photos from the scene showed the crew members’ relatives appearing to break down at the news. Military authorities had warned earlier that oxygen would already be running out on the vessel. “I feel like I'm waiting for a corpse,” one crew member’s sister was cited saying by the BBC. The submarine was returning from a routine mission last week when it reportedly suffered an “electrical breakdown.”