Sri Lanka’s navy rushed into the Indian Ocean after receiving a distress call from an Iranian warship, but what it found looked like a scene from a disaster film: oil slicks, empty life rafts and bodies in the water after the vessel was sunk by a U.S. torpedo strike.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament on Wednesday that Sri Lanka launched a rescue effort after a distress signal from Iran’s IRIS Dena, which had 180 people on board. Navy ships and aircraft were sent to the area.
When Sri Lankan forces arrived, the ship was gone.
“There was no sign of the ship, only some oil patches and life rafts,” navy spokesman Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said. “We found people floating on the water.”
Sri Lanka’s navy said crews recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people.