Sri Lanka Court Orders Release of 84 Iranian Sailors’ Bodies to Embassy Officials

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Galle Chief Magistrate, Sameera Dodangoda, today ordered that the 84 bodies of Iranian naval personnel, currently stored in two mobile cold storage units at the Galle National Hospital, be handed over to officials of the Iranian Embassy.

The directive was issued to the Director of the Galle National Hospital after considering a request made by the Galle Harbour Police.

The bodies belong to the crew of the Iranian vessel IRIS Dena, which sank off Sri Lanka’s southern coast following a U.S. torpedo strike.

Following the incident, 32 Iranian sailors who survived the attack were rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy and subsequently admitted to the Karapitiya National Hospital for treatment.