Sources in Colombo told RT that around 30 sailors were rescued following the distress call
A reported submarine attack sank an Iranian naval warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, Reuters reported, citing sources in the Ministry of Navy and Defense in Colombo.
Earlier reports indicated that Iran’s Southern Fleet’s Maudge-class frigate IRIS Dena had raised a distress signal Wednesday morning in the Indian Ocean about 40 nautical miles off the southwestern Sri Lankan city of Galle.
“We first received a distress call at 5:08 AM” Foreign Minister Vijita Herat said on Wednesday. “We immediately sent two navy ships to assist the Iranian navy ship. Later, a joint operation by navy and air force was conducted to rescue those who needed help. Thirty people who needed emergency help were immediately rescued. They were admitted to hospital in Karapitiya, Galle.”
About 180 people are believed to have been on board the warship.
“We are bound by the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, 1979, to assist any vessel in distress, regardless of its nationality.” Herath added.
Sources close to the rescue operation told RT that the vessel may have been torpedoed.
Reports of 100 sailors missing after the sinking are untrue and 32 people injured in the incident have been rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy and are being treated in hospital, a Sri Lankan navy spokesman told Reuters.
Rescuers have recovered several bodies believed to be crew members of the warship, Sri Lanka Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath told reporters in Colombo on Wednesday.
“We suspect that the dead bodies belong to the same vessel that was found in the area we identified.” He said.
According to Sampath, the search and rescue operation is still going on.
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