55 Presumed Dead After China's Nuclear Sub Gets Caught In Trap Meant For US, Its Allies: Reports

A Chinese nuclear submarine got caught in a trap intended for U.S. or British submarines in the Yellow Sea, killing 55 people on board, multiple reports claimed. However, Beijing has not yet released any information to corroborate or deny the catastrophic accident.

The news outlets, citing a British intelligence report, said 22 officers, seven officer cadets, nine petty officers and 17 sailors were killed in an accident involving a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) nuclear submarine on Aug. 21.

International Business Times could not independently verify the information.

If true, the incident "reflects poorly on the PLA Navy's capabilities," Niranjan Oak, a research analyst at Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, told IBT.

PLA Navy submarine 093-417 was reportedly involved in the accident. The Shang-class submarine got caught in seabed defenses that were installed by Chinese forces to trap U.S. and allied submarines. It ran out of oxygen, killing 55 on board, the reports said.

"Our understanding is death caused by hypoxia (lack of oxygen) due to a system fault on the submarine," British intelligence officials reportedly said. "The submarine hit a chain and anchor obstacle used by the Chinese navy to trap U.S. and allied submarines. This resulted in systems failures that took six hours to repair and surface the vessel. The onboard oxygen system poisoned the crew after a catastrophic failure."

"The story is unverified. No activity of a deep-submergence rescue vehicle was reported after the alleged incident was first reported. Moreover, even the Taiwanese media has denied any knowledge of the accident," Oak said. "It is true that transparency from China cannot be expected. However, one would need more evidence of the occurrence of the incident."

"If at all the story happens to be accurate, it reflects poorly on the PLA Navy's capabilities. It shows sheer unprofessionalism on the part of the Chinese navy," he added. "PLA Navy is growing at a rapid pace. However, such an incident demonstrates that China may increase the number of naval platforms, but it lacks experience in professionally operating those platforms."

The Type 093 submarines are the more modern and advanced vessels in China's submarine fleet. They offer improvements in speed and emit less noise than their predecessors.

The series has also reportedly seen advancements in terms of displacement, information technology and human-machine efficiency.

Rumors about a Chinese submarine sinking in the Yellow Sea first surfaced on social media in August.

Chinese officials, who have a reputation for staying silent in such situations, neither confirmed nor denied the claims.

At a routine news conference in Taipei in August, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesperson Sun Li-fang said the joint intelligence and surveillance apparatus of the country had not detected any evidence of a submarine crash.