(Norwegian authority director corrected July 2 comment to say it learnt of alleged gas explosion from Russian media, not Russian authorities.)

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian authorities said on Tuesday they have not detected abnormally high levels of radiation after a Russian submarine caught fire in the area of the Barents Sea.

“We have made checks and we are not monitoring too high radiation levels in the area,” Per Strand, a director at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, told Reuters. He said his agency had seen Russian media reports that a gas explosion took place on board the submarine.

Russia’s defense ministry said earlier 14 sailors were killed in the fire. A Russian media report said the submarine was nuclear-powered, but there was no official confirmation of that.