Trapped in a 'metal coffin' on the ocean floor
When the Peruvian submarine Pacocha crashed and plunged 42 metres down to the seabed with 22 sailors inside, it was First Lieutenant Roger Cotrina Alvarado's job to save his crew.
In 1988, after colliding with a fishing trawler at the surface, the Peruvian submarine Pacocha began to sink. Some of the sailors started to abandon ship and First Lieutenant Roger Cotrina Alvarado had to make a choice - jump overboard and live, or go back inside the submarine for the rest of the crew. The sinking submarine dragged him and 21 others down 42 metres to the ocean floor. With oxygen running out, it would become Roger's job to find a way to escape. This programme was first broadcast in 2021
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Presenter: Clayton Conn
Producers: Clayton Conn and Mariana Des Forges
Interpreter: Martin Esposito
(Image: Collage of photographs of the Pacocha, crew, the submarine and Roger Cotrina Alvarado. Credit: All courtesy of Roger Cotrina Alvarado)
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- Thu 6 Jun 202411:06GMTBBC World Service
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