MOSCOW, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - Psychiatrists have determined that a man charged with "involuntary manslaughter" after a fatal accident on board Russia's Nerpa nuclear submarine is mentally fit to stand trial.
"Psychiatric tests have shown that submariner [Dmitry] Grobov is criminally sane," a source close to the investigation told RIA Novosti on Friday.
The source added that the investigation into the incident had been extended until August due to the necessity of carrying out additional tests.
"It is necessary to establish how the fire suppression system could have started with the pushing of one button, taking into account that practically all life-support systems on a submarine have a backup system," the source said.
The accident occurred on November 8 last year while the submarine was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan. Three submariners and 17 shipyard workers died in the accident. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, on board the vessel at the time.
Grobov is suspected of having entered the wrong temperature data for the submarine's living quarters, which caused the fire suppression system to release deadly Freon gas.
The incident was the worst for the Russian Navy since the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000 when all 118 sailors died.
