The bodies of 87 individuals who were on board the Iranian vessel ‘IRIS Dena’, which sank after being attacked by the United States in seas off southern Sri Lanka, have now been recovered.
A total of 32 of the rescued crew from the Iranian ship ‘IRIS Dena’ have been admitted to the Galle National Hospital, with one of them in the Intensive Care Unit, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa stated in Parliament today.
The Minister also confirmed that the 87 recovered bodies have been placed at Karapitiya Hospital.
He also stated that a special security program has been implemented within the hospital premises to ensure the safety of the injured Iranian nationals.
The ship sank after being hit by a torpedo attack launched from an American submarine.
Around 180 people were on board the vessel at the time of the incident.
The vessel sunk in the Indian Ocean was Iran’s “prize ship,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. It was one of the few instances of a submarine sinking a ship since World War II.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”
After the Sri Lanka Navy received a distress signal from the IRIS Dena, which had 180 people on board, it sent ships and planes on a rescue mission, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath informed Parliament.
But by the time Navy personnel reached the location, there was no sign of the ship, “only some oil patches and life rafts,” Navy Spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said. “We found people floating on the water.
A video released by the U.S. Department of Defense on X showed the moment of the torpedo attack.
The Iranian ship appears to be hit by an underwater explosion that causes it to break apart, as a large plume of water rises up in the air.
The 32 people rescued were admitted to the Galle National Hospital.
The IRIS Dena — one of Iran’s newest warships — patrolled in deep water, and was armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It carried one helicopter, according to international media reports.
The ship had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in February 2023, along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied weapons to Russia for use against civilian targets in Ukraine.
At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk during the ongoing war, said U.S. Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the US Military’s Central Command.
--With Agencies inputs
