Missing Submarine Declared Sunk, All 53 Crew Members Dead

A submarine which went missing since Wednesday was declared lost for good.

The Indonesian navy gave up on Saturday and said the submarine had sunk and cracked open, killing 53 crew members on board.

The submarine had last plunged into the sea off Bali island. Over the past two days, an oil slick was visible near the site and some debris found. That was when experts and rescue teams started thinking that KRI Nanggala 402 may have sunk.

The cause of the submarine’s disappearance is yet to be ascertained.

“If it’s an explosion, it will be in pieces. The cracks happened gradually in some parts when it went down from 300 metres to 400 metres to 500 metres… If there was an explosion, it would be heard by the sonar,” Navy Chief Yudo Margono said.