The wreckage of an Argentine navy submarine that exploded and disappeared one year ago was located in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, said the navy, crushing the last hopes for relatives of the 44 crew.
There has been "positive identification of the ARA San Juan," at a depth of 800 meters (2,600 feet), a statement on Twitter from the navy said.
The Seabed Constructor, a vessel owned by US search firm Ocean Infinity, which set out in September on the latest attempt to find the San Juan, made the discovery.
The navy lost contact with the submarine on November 15 last year, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) from the Argentine coast.
It was on its way back to base from Ushuaia at the southern tip of Argentina.
"I still had hopes that they could be alive," Luis Niz, the father of one of the missing sailors, told reporters, even though the government of President Mauricio Macri had earlier declared that there were no survivors from the San Juan.
"We are with the other relatives. They are going to show us the photos. They say that our youngsters are inside," said Yolanda Mendiola, the mother of crewman Leandro Cisneros, 28.
"We are all destroyed here."
Before it departed for its mission, Luis Tagliapietra, whose son Alejandro was a lieutenant on the San Juan, described it as "the last opportunity to find them."
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