ASTANA, September 25. /TASS/. All 14 deceased Kazakh servicemen were retrieved in a rescue operation that has been completed in the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan’s Defense Ministry said on Friday morning.

"At about 9:15 a.m. (4:15 a.m. GMT) today, on September 25, the bodies of two servicemen, sergeant Mansur Gumarov and sailor Miras Turdybekula, who had disappeared earlier, were found during an intensive search and rescue operation," the ministry said in a report.

The Kazakh Defense Ministry and the republic’s Armed Forces extended their deepest condolences to the families and friends of the deceased servicemen.

A criminal case has been opened, and a special commission is looking into the reasons and circumstances behind the incident. Officials suspected of negligence who failed to ensure the security of personnel in poor weather conditions and proper rescue procedures have been identified, Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said earlier.

On September 24, 17 servicemen were swept out to sea during a naval exercise in the Mangystau Region on the Caspian Sea coast due to severe weather conditions and gusty winds, 14 of whom have died. Three soldiers were rescued as a result of swift action.