MOSCOW, Oct 28: Forensic teams working on the wreck of the ill- fated nuclear submarine Kursk have so far retrieved 32 bodies, officials at the Roslyakovo naval dock near Murmansk told Interfax news agency on Sunday.

The search for additional bodies was being hampered by a mixture of water and oil which had not been drained from all sections of the vessel, which is in drydock.

The nuclear submarine sank after an explosion during exercises in the Barents Sea 15 months ago. All 118 crewmen died in the accident.

The Kursk was lifted from the seabed off northern Russia three weeks ago by a Dutch salvage company working for the Russian government.

Specialist divers recovered twelve bodies from the wreck last year.—dpa