RUSSIA: SUBMARINE RESCUE OPERATIONS: FAMILIES (2)

(18 Aug 2000) Russian/Nat XFA It is almost a week since the pride of the Russian submarine fleet, atomic submarine cruiser the Kursk, crashed to the bottom of the Barents Sea, leaving more than a hundred men on board trapped. And the families of the Kursk crewmen can keep calm no longer. Since Monday when the news broke, relatives of the men on board the Kursk were arriving to Murmansk to be taken by the navy to the Vidyaevo base that the Kursk used to call its home harbour. Today, when Ilya Klebanov, the Vice Prime minister of Russia who was appointed to head the rescue efforts in the Barents Sea, came to offer the words of comforts to the families, he was met by the show of outrage by some of the desperate people who all but lost hope to see their loved ones again. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) “For those 50-70 dollars a month that they get they are now sitting trapped that damned tin can? How long would it last? What was raising him for? Tell me, do you hav