President Mauricio Macri of Argentina declared three days of mourning over the deceased crew of the missing naval submarine that was recovered by Argentinian authorities exactly a year and a day after the mishap.
Sputnik quoted the Argentine naval base Commander in Mar del Plata Gabriel Attis informing the relatives of onboard crew members of the submarine on Saturday that the ARA San Juan has been recently found deformed and with signs of the explosion.
"As a tribute to all of them [the crew], we declare a three-day mourning," Macri said in a statement.
ARA San Juan went missing on November 15, 2017, with 44 crew members on board. It had reported a technical malfunction in the vessel. The submarine disappeared on a routine trip from Ushuaia in the Patagonia region to Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province.
Eight days later, while the recovery operations were still continuing, the Argentine navy announced the news of an explosion that was recorded near the submarine's last known location, just hours after its final communication with the military last year.
San Juan was found on November 17, almost 2,600 feet below the surface in the southern Atlantic Ocean by a private company contracted by the Argentina government after an international search failed to find the vessel.
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The authorities resumed the search for the submarine in late October after signing a contract with Ocean Infinity. The US seabed intelligence company is known for conducting the search operation for the missing MH370 Malaysian airliner. Ocean Infinity has reportedly committed to receiving payment from Argentina only if ARA San Juan is found.
Meanwhile, the Argentine President also expressed gratitude to the United States, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Great Britain, Norway, France, Peru, and other countries involved in the search operations.