At least 101 people are missing and 78 injured after a submarine attack on an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, naval and defence sources say.
Sri Lanka’s navy sent a rescue team after the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena issued distress calls, a defence ministry spokesperson said. “At this point, 79 people have been rescued and taken to the hospital, with one in serious condition. Another 101 are believed to be missing,” a navy source added.
Reports say the ship was struck by a US submarine, though it is unclear whether the frigate was being shadowed by USS Pinckney at the time, The Indian Express reported. The frigate was returning to Iran after attending a naval event hosted by India — the Indian Navy’s International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam in mid-February — when it reported the emergency. The vessel reportedly carried around 180 crew members.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that Sri Lankan forces had rescued 30 people from the sinking vessel. An air force surveillance aircraft was dispatched to search the area where the attack occurred. He said Sri Lanka would take appropriate action.
Local media reported distress signals came from about 40 nautical miles south of Galle. The injured were admitted to hospitals in Galle, roughly 115 kilometres south of Colombo. Navy spokesperson Buddhika Sampath said, “We responded to the distress call under our international obligations as this falls within Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue Area in the Indian Ocean.”
Earlier, Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), said the US had destroyed about 17 Iranian warships, including a submarine, in its operations against Iran; Tehran has not confirmed all of those attacks.
