Hello and welcome to the details of Sri Lanka rescues 32 sailors after Iranian warship sinks off southern coast, dozens still missing and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - An ambulance enters Sri Lanka's southern naval head quarters in Galle on March 4, 2026, to pick up Iranian sailors rescued from Iranian frigate Iris Dena that was sunk off their island earlier in the day. — AFP pic
COLOMBO, March 4 — Sri Lanka rescued 32 “critically wounded” sailors aboard the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which sank today just outside the island’s territorial waters, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.
No information was immediately available on the cause of the explosion that sank the vessel, but Herath told parliament that the injured sailors were taken to a hospital in the island’s south.
The 180-crew frigate had issued a distress call at dawn.
Sri Lanka’s defence ministry said it was searching for the other crew of the IRIS Dena, which went down about 40 kilometres south of the island.
“We are keeping up a search, but we don’t know yet what happened to the rest of the crew,” an official told AFP, dimming prospects for finding any more survivors.
Herath said two Sri Lankan navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed for the rescue operation, but did not say what caused the Iranian warship to sink.
An opposition legislator asked in parliament whether the vessel had been bombed as part of the ongoing US-Israeli attacks against Iran, but there was no immediate response from the government.
Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said their operation was in line with Sri Lanka’s maritime obligations and that 32 Iranian sailors were evacuated to the main hospital in Galle, 115 kilometres south of the capital Colombo.
“We responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our search and rescue area in the Indian Ocean,” Sampath told AFP.
Both Sri Lanka’s navy and the air force said they were not releasing footage of the rescue because it involved the military of another state.
Police stepped up security outside the Galle hospital as the wounded Iranians were brought there by the local navy. — AFP
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