MOSCOW, Aug. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The stranded Russian mini-submarine resurfaced Sunday with its seven crew members alive after being ensnared on the Pacific seabed for nearly three days.

    "The mini-submarine has surfaced, and all seven crew members are alive," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo as saying.

    "They (the crew members) left the mini-submarine unassisted and boarded the rescue boat which will take them to the Alages ship, where medical help is on call," Dygalo said.

    The AS-28 mini-submarine, which got ensnared Thursday night by an antenna anchored to a 60-ton heavy weight on the seabed off the Kamchatka Peninsula, was lifted to surface with all the crew members in it at 0725 Moscow time (0325 GMT).

    The crew was salvaged at the end of an around-the-clock rescue operation that was assisted by a British Scorpio underwater vehicle,which was submerged to cut entanglements that had enmeshed the submarine on the seafloor.

    "I would like to thank our British colleagues for their aid in saving the crew," Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Navy, told reporters.

    The crew members looked very tired, but they seem to be in satisfactory conditions, Pepelyayev said.

    Russia was quick to ask for international help after the news of the accident broke out. British and US planes on Saturday delivered remote-controlled, deep-diving Scorpio underwater vehicles, rescuers and other equipment for the rescue work. Enditem