Sri Lanka hands over 84 Iranian sailors' bodies to embassy
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Sri Lanka has repatriated the remains of 84 Iranian sailors who were killed when their frigate was sunk by a US submarine, an official said.
Last week on Wednesday, Sri Lanka said it had recovered 84 bodies of Iranian sailors after the US submarine attack sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off Galle on the island’s southern coast.
The ship was returning to Iran from Visakhapatnam, India, where it had participated in a naval fleet review exercise.
“The departure was delayed because 84 sealed boxes had to be loaded,” added the official who requested anonymity.
The destination of the flight was not disclosed.
The 32 sailors from the frigate who were rescued following the attack will remain in Sri Lanka for the time being, the Foreign Ministry said.
Of them, 22 have been discharged from the hospital and are being held at an air force base in the south of the island.
A second Iranian warship, the IRIS Bushehr, was allowed into Sri Lankan waters a day after Dena was sunk. Sri Lanka is providing safe harbour for the ship and its crew of 219.
Sri Lankan officials said they have not begun discussions on repatriating the Bushehr crew and those rescued from the Dena, but vowed that the sailors will be treated in line with Colombo’s international obligations.
Sri Lanka is currently hosting a total of 251 Iranian sailors.
Crewmembers from the Bushehr are held at a navy camp just north of Colombo, while their ship has been taken over by Sri Lanka’s navy, which is trying to repair one of the two engines that were reportedly malfunctioning.
