E-Paper
Sri Lanka sends jets over Iran naval ship's distress call, denies ‘submarine attack’ reports; several feared dead
Sri Lanka reportedly sent ships and aircraft to rescue Iranian sailors aboard the Iranian frigate - Iris Dena - after a distress .
Over 140 people were reported missing and 78 were injured on Wednesday in an 180-crew Iranian naval ship which made a distress off Sri Lanka's coast following what was reported as an explosion. Sri Lankan authorities denied that distress call was triggered by a submarine attack on the Iranian ship off, as reported by Reuters first, citing sources in Lankan navy and defence ministry.
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, reported Singapore-based news portal CNA.
Without disclosing source of the reported explosion, navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said a few bodies from the area where the ship had gone down, according to AFP news agency. "We have found a few bodies from the area where the ship had gone down," Sampath said, adding that hopes for 148 missing were fading while 32 were hospitalised.
What happened
Sri Lankan authorities reportedly said on Wednesday that the Sri Lanka Navy dispatched a rescue mission after a distress call from a sinking Iranian naval ship.
Sri Lanka sent ships and aircraft to rescue those aboard the Iranian frigate - Iris Dena - which was sinking Wednesday just ouside the island's territorial waters, AFP news agency reported first, citing foreign minister Vijitha Herath said. Reuters later reported that at least 32 onboard were hospitalised.
He told parliament that 30 injured sailors were being brought to a hospital in the island's south from the 180-crew frigate was sinking from dawn.
While exact details of the operation that ensued after the distress call were not known, Sri Lankan news portal Ada Derana and several others reported that the Iranian ship in distress was about 40 nautical miles off Galle and was carryign 180 people.
Citing Aruna Jayasekara, deputy minister of defence, the reports said the Navy and Air Force were conducting a joint rescue operation to extract the crew from the ship.
Sri Lanka denies submarine attack reports
Sri Lanka Navy spokesperson later, rejecting reports of a submarine attack, said 32 people injured in the incident were rescued by the naval force and under treatment in hospital.
While the cause of the incident was not immediately known, it comes amid affects of the Middle East tensions spilling on to international waters, with ships being targeted by the fighting sides in the conflict triggered by US-Israel strikes on Iran last weekend and intensified by latter's retaliation.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said their operation was in line with Sri Lanka's maritime obligations, AFP reported.
"We responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our Search and Rescue Area in the Indian Ocean," Sampath was quoted as saying.
Local officials said the main hospital in Galle, 115 kilometres (70 miles) south of the capital, had been placed on alert to receive the evacuated sailors.
Foreign minister Herath told parliament that the injured sailors were taken to a hospital in the island's south.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they control the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for oil and gas, and any vessels seeking to pass through the waterway risk damage from missiles or stray drones. Track US-Iran war live updates
"Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic's Navy," AFP news agency quoted Guards Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh's statement, issued on Fars news agency.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the crucial Gulf shipping route.
