Nine injured in fighting nuclear submarine fire

"There is no threat for an explosion or radiation contamination. The rescue operation continues," the source said.

The fire onboard the nuclear submarine was localized at 01:40 Moscow time, a source in the Ministry of Emergency Situations told Itar-Tass earlier.

The radiation level is normal at the fire site onboard the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine, a source in the information department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.

"The radiation monitoring is made by 59 permanent detectors and 25 portable control posts. According to their indicators, the radiation level is normal," the source said.

Meanwhile, the firemen keep pouring water and foam on the burning submarine.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin dispatched acting Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and the chief of the United Shipbuilding Corporation Roman Trotsenko to the fire site onboard the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine in the Murmansk Region. Rogozin has made an entry in his Twitter micro blog about the incident.

"I sent acting Minister of Industry and Trade Manturov and the chief of the United Shipbuilding Corporation Trotsenko to Murmansk overnight to Friday. I reported to the president and the prime minister about the real situation," he wrote down. Meanwhile, Rogozin noted that Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Vysotsky and Commander of the Northern Fleet Vice-Admiral Vladimir Korolev already arrived at the incident site.

A criminal case was opened over the fire onboard the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine, a source in the Russian Investigative Committee told Itar-Tass on Friday. The Investigative Committee reported that the construction garbage caught fire in the dry dock of the 82nd shipyard, where the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine underwent the repairs, at about 16:20 Moscow time in Roslyakovo in the Murmansk Region.