COLOMBO : Sri Lankan authorities confirmed that the remains of the 84 sailors from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena were formally handed over to the Iranian embassy after necessary legal procedures were completed.
According to officials, the sailors were killed when a US submarine torpedoed the Iranian naval vessel on March 4 near Galle on Sri Lanka’s southern coast. The frigate had been returning to Iran after participating in a naval fleet review exercise in Visakhapatnam, India.
A spokesman from Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said the human remains were transferred to the Iranian embassy on Friday. The bodies were subsequently flown out of the country aboard a chartered Turkish airliner from Mattala International Airport in Hambantota district.
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The handover followed an order issued on March 11 by Chief Magistrate Sameera Dodangoda, who directed the Director of the National Hospital in Karapitiya to release the remains to the Iranian embassy.
The bodies had been kept at the Karapitiya hospital in Galle after Sri Lankan authorities recovered them following the incident. Due to limited morgue capacity at the hospital, the remains were preserved in makeshift refrigerated storage while arrangements for repatriation were being finalized.
Sri Lanka had earlier stated that the bodies would be held temporarily until conditions allowed for their safe return to Iran.
In addition to the recovered bodies, 32 survivors from the attack had been admitted to the same hospital for treatment.
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