KARACHI, Pakistan: A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday ordered hospital authorities to hand over the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors to Iran’s Embassy in Colombo after they were recovered from the sea following an attack by a United States (US) submarine last week, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported, citing local media.
Galle Chief Magistrate Sameera Dodangoda issued the order after a request filed by police, local media outlet Daily Mirror reported.
The bodies are being kept in two mobile cold storage units at a hospital in Galle, a coastal city in southern Sri Lanka.
The sailors were among those killed after the US submarine attacked the Iranian warship, IRIS Dena, in waters off Sri Lanka last Wednesday.
Sri Lanka’s navy launched a rescue mission following the incident.
Iran’s military reported that the US attack killed 104 of the 130 sailors on board. However, Sri Lankan authorities said they recovered 84 bodies from the water and rescued 32 sailors, while 14 remain missing.
Days later, Sri Lanka also evacuated 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel, IRIS Bushehr, after it requested assistance from Colombo.
Both vessels had been returning from the Milan Peace 2026 naval drills in India.
Sri Lanka said Monday it would grant one-month visas to the rescued Iranian sailors.
Debris and oil barrels from the sunken IRIS Dena later washed ashore along parts of Sri Lanka’s southern coastline, prompting cleanup efforts and environmental monitoring by authorities, local media reported. – BERNAMA-ANADOLU
