Colombo, Mar 14: Sri Lanka has repatriated the remains of 84 Iranian sailors who were killed after their frigate was sunk by a United States submarine, an official said.
Last week, Sri Lanka reported that it had recovered the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors after a US submarine attack sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off Galle on the island’s southern coast. The ship was returning to Iran from Visakhapatnam, where it had participated in a naval fleet review exercise.
“Human remains were sent by the Iranian embassy on Friday — all 84,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
The remains were transported on a chartered Turkeyn airliner that departed on Friday, reporters present at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport said.
Chief Magistrate Sameera Dodangoda on March 11 ordered the Director of the Karapitiya National Hospital to hand over the 84 bodies of sailors from IRIS Dena to the Embassy of Iran.
Following the magistrate’s court order, arrangements for the repatriation were finalised.
The bodies had been kept at the Karapitiya hospital in Galle along with 32 survivors, who were admitted after the US torpedo attack on the ship on March 4.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan government said the remains would be kept until conditions allowed for their repatriation. They were preserved under makeshift refrigeration as the hospital’s morgue capacity was insufficient.
The 32 survivors were discharged on Sunday and later moved to the nearby Koggala Air Force Base. (Agency)
