GALLE: Sri Lanka's navy has recovered 87 bodies of sailors from an Iranian warship that was sunk on Wednesday by a US submarine off the island's southern coast, police and defence officials said. "We have collected 87 bodies, and a search is still on for the others who are still missing," a navy official said on condition of anonymity. Police and navy spokesmen said 61 sailors were still missing. Some 32 have been rescued and are being treated at a hospital in the city of Galle, according to officials.
Nearly 150 people were missing and several dead after an Iranian warship sank on Wednesday off Sri Lanka following what crew members reported as an explosion, officials said.
This sinking comes as war has broken out in the Mideast, after Israel and the United States launched strikes against Iran. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told parliament that 32 rescued Iranians were rushed to the main hospital in the island's south while two navy craft and a plane were deployed to search for survivors.
The frigate issued a distress call at dawn on Wednesday, and within less than an hour, a rescue vessel reached the area about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the southern port of Galle, the minister said. The frigate had completely sunk and only an oil patch remained when the navy rescue boats approached. "We are keeping up a search, but we don't know yet what happened to the rest of the crew," a defence official said, dimming prospects for finding any more survivors. — AFP
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