Sri Lanka repatriates over 230 Iranian sailors

COLOMBO: Over 230 sailors of two Iranian Naval vessels distressed in Sri Lanka after a US submarine attack and engine failure respectively have been repatriated, defence officials said here Wednesday.

A total of 238 sailors were sent back on board a Turkish Airliner late on Tuesday night.

On March 4, Iran's naval ship ‘Iris Dena’ was attacked by the US killing 84 on board outside Sri Lanka’s international waters. As many as 32 others were rescued by Sri Lanka.

Then three days later, Iran's second ship ‘Iris Bushehr’ was allowed into Sri Lanka waters after it reported an engine failure. Over 200 on board the second ship were accommodated at Welisara, a Naval facility outside Colombo.

The 238 repatriated on Tuesday were sailors from both ships, defence officials said.

A group of ‘Iris Dena’ survivors were accommodated at Koggala, a Sri Lankan Airforce facility near the southern port of Galle. They were receiving treatment at the national hospital in Galle.

On March 14, the Iranian embassy in Sri Lanka repatriated the remains of 84 sailors killed in the US attack on ‘Iris Dena’.