Sri Lanka trying to safeguard lives on second Iranian ship after US sinks frigate
Two freezers, dispatched from Colombo, will store 87 bodies recovered from the sea
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[GALLE] Sri Lanka said it was trying to “safeguard lives” on a second Iranian ship off its coast on Thursday (Mar 5), a day after 87 people were killed in a US submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region.
Nalinda Jayatissa, a spokesperson for the Sri Lankan Cabinet, said at a parliamentary session that various authorities were responding to the presence of an Iranian ship in Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone outside its maritime boundary near the port of Colombo.
“The president, defence officials and all other relevant officials are aware, and we are addressing the situation,” he said in response to questions from an opposition leader.
“We are doing our utmost to safeguard lives,” he added, without explaining the way they would do so or whether the ship was a military vessel.
Jayatissa said the IRIS Dena was sunk on Wednesday, 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern port city of Galle. He added that two freezers had been dispatched from Colombo to store the 87 bodies recovered from the sea.
Iran hints at future retaliation
Hansaka Wijemuni, Sri Lanka’s deputy minister for health and mass media, told Reuters that Teheran has asked Colombo to help repatriate the bodies.
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He added that a timeframe had not yet been determined.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the warship was struck without warning in international waters, thousands of miles from the Gulf, where US and Israeli forces are striking Iran. Teheran has retaliated with missile and drone attacks.
“The US will bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Araqchi said in a post on X, adding that the warship was a guest of the Indian Navy and was carrying almost 130 sailors.
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Sri Lankan military rescuers responded to an early morning distress call from the IRIS Dena on Wednesday and found 32 survivors.
The survivors would be released from hospital on Thursday after being treated for minor injuries, said Sri Lankan authorities. Two policemen guarded the entrance to ward No 58 of the hospital, as nurses milled about and doctors conducted morning rounds.
Search and rescue operations for an estimated 10 people who remain unaccounted for would continue, they added.
The attack dramatically widens the scope of the war.
“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”
A Pentagon video purporting to have captured the attack showed a huge explosion blowing apart the rear of the vessel – lifting it from the water and causing it to begin sinking from the stern.
The IRIS Dena had taken part in a naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal from Feb 18 to 25 and was on its way back, the drill’s website and Sri Lankan officials said.
An Indian Navy spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment after the warship was sunk. REUTERS
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