Russia’s Only Aircraft Carrier Hit by Fire in Latest Mishap
- Blaze started during repair work on Admiral Kuznetsov
- Originally built by Soviets, ship had long suffered problems
Smoke rises from a fire aboard Admiral Kuznetsov on Dec. 12.
Photographer: Lev Fedoseyev/TASS via Getty Images
A fire broke out on Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, injuring as many as 12 crew members and killing at least one person, in the latest mishap to plague the Soviet-built vessel.
The blaze started in the ship’s power plant while the vessel was moored at the Arctic port of Murmansk for an overhaul. The fire spread to an area of as much as 600 square meters (6,500 square feet), Russian media reports said. Human error was likely to blame, the head of the state-run United Shipbuilding Corporation, Alexei Rakhmanov, said, according to the Interfax news service. He said open flames had been extinguished by mid-afternoon and that the blaze wouldn’t delay the renovation of the vessel.