All seven people on board a submarine trapped for nearly three days under the Pacific Ocean were rescued yesterday after a British remote-controlled vehicle cut away the undersea cables that had snarled their vessel, allowing it to surface.

The seven, whose oxygen supplies had been dwindling amid underwater temperatures in the mid-40s, appeared to be in satisfactory condition, naval spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said. They were examined in the clinic of a naval ship, then transferred to a larger vessel to return to the mainland.

"The crew opened the hatch themselves, exited the vessel and climbed aboard a speedboat," said Rear Adm. Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the naval general staff.

All 7 rescued

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"I can only thank our English colleagues for their joint work and the help they gave in order to complete this operation within the time we had available that is, before the oxygen reserves ran out," he said.

The sub surfaced at 4:26 p.m. local time Sunday, some three days after becoming entangled in 600 feet of water off the Pacific Coast on Thursday and after a series of failed attempts to drag it closer to shore or haul it closer to the surface. It was carrying six sailors and a representative of the company that manufactured it.

The men aboard waited through grinding hours of uncertainty. Officials said they were wearing thermal suits to warm them against temperatures of about 40 F inside the sub. In order to conserve electricity, they used communications equipment only sporadically to contact with the surface. They tried to stay to stay calm, among other reasons, to conserve oxygen.

"The crew were steadfast, very professional," Pepelyayev said on Channel One television. "Their selfpossession allowed them to conserve the air and wait for the rescue operation."

Yelena Milashevskaya, the wife of crew member Lt. Vyacheslav Milashevsky, told Channel One television that when she got the call saying her husband was alive, "My feelings danced. I was happy, I cried."

In an echo of the Kursk sinking, President Vladimir Putin had made no public comment by Sunday on the mini-sub drama. Putin remained on vacation as the Kursk disaster unfolded, raising criticism that he appeared either callous or ineffectual.

Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov travelled to the site of the rescue operation on Saturday.

But in sharp contrast to the August 2000 Kursk disaster, when authorities held off asking for help until hope was nearly exhausted, Russian military officials quickly sought help from US and British authorities. All 118 people on board the Kursk died, some surviving for hours as oxygen ran out.