Sri Lanka Repatriates 84 Iranian Sailors After Attack

Sri Lanka has completed the repatriation process for 84 Iranian sailors who were killed when their frigate was sunk by a US submarine attack on March 4, nine days prior to the repatriation. The foreign ministry confirmed that the sailors were killed when the Iranian vessel was struck by a torpedo just off the coast of Sri Lanka.

The bodies of the deceased sailors were transported to Mattala International Airport in the south of the country, with the first batch of 46 bodies arriving on Friday afternoon, awaiting a charter cargo plane from Iran. Thushara Rodrigo, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan government, stated that 32 sailors were rescued and will remain in Sri Lanka.

The bodies, which were sealed in boxes, were retrieved from the Indian Ocean and taken to Karapitiya Hospital for autopsy, as ordered by a local magistrate. The bodies will be handed over to the Iranian Embassy in Colombo for repatriation to their next of kin.