A LOCAL court has ordered that the bodies of 84 sailors killed in an attack on an Iranian warship off the island nation’s coast last week be handed over to the embassy of Iran, local media reported.
The warship, IRIS Dena, was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine while it was returning from a naval exercise organised by India, amid the Iran conflict that has wreaked havoc on global markets, sent oil prices soaring and disrupted trade and travel.
The court order was issued yesterday following a request from the Galle Harbour Police in the southern port city of Galle, the media reports said. The bodies are currently at the morgue in Galle’s National Hospital.
Sri Lanka has also granted 30-day entry visas to 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel who were taken in by the South Asian country after the vessel experienced engine problems in the same region, Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said.
The Sri Lankan foreign ministry is in touch with the Iranian embassy in Colombo about the crew and the mission is in turn consulting Teheran, he said.
“We are expecting a response from Teheran over the next few days.”
A spokesperson for Sri Lanka’s cabinet said on Tuesday that the second vessel, IRIS Booshehr, would eventually be moved. — Reuters
