Iranian warship sinks off Sri Lanka coast, 87 saved, many bodies recovered

An Iranian warship on Wednesday, March 4, sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan authorities have said that they saved over 87 persons and recovered many bodies from the sea. The ship which sunk off the Sri Lankan coast has been identified as IRIS Dena, Sri Lankan Foreign minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament.

Reuters in the Sri Lanka's navy and defence ministry quoted sources as saying that the vessel had been attacked by a submarine. As many as 101 people who were on board the warship were missing in the incident. Defence sources said it was unclear who attacked the ship or why.

Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan navy spokesman clarified on the 101 number and said that the reports of 101 people being missing were not true. The spokesman also rejected any reports on the cause of the ship sinking.

The spokesman had earlier informed that 32 people injured in the incident had been rescued by the Sri Lankan navy and were under treatment at a state-run hospital in the southern port city of Galle.

The incident was reported when the Sri Lankan navy received a distress call from an Iranian ship. The Navy then informed the Sri Lankan air force and both launched a search and rescue operation, the spokesman said.

Sri Lankan forces were focused on saving lives on the Iranian ship and will investigate the cause of the incident later, he said.

Sri Lankan forces had also not observed anyother ship or aircraft in the area of the incident, he added.

"We are hopeful we can rescue more people and will continue (operations) until we are sure," he said. Also Read | Missiles, airspace closures and oil shock: How US-Iran war is unfolding across Middle East — A country-wise breakdown

The warship sunk just as the joint United States-Israel war on Iran entered Day 5. Since then, fighter jets have roared overhead in Tehran and other parts of the Middle East. The intensity of the attacks have been such that state television announced the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, would be postponed.

According to AP, the war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and dozens in Lebanon, while disrupting the supply of the world’s oil and gas, snarling international shipping, and stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.

(With Reuters inputs)