Overview
- Deputy defence minister Aruna Jayasekara said 32 survivors from IRIS Dena and 206 from IRIS Bushehr flew out Tuesday on a chartered flight.
- About 15 sailors remain in Sri Lanka to run IRIS Bushehr, which is anchored off Trincomalee in the island’s northeast.
- Iran says a U.S. submarine torpedoed IRIS Dena on March 4 near Sri Lanka, killing about 104 sailors, with 84 bodies recovered and already sent home.
- Colombo granted 30-day visas, housed crews at navy and air force camps, and said it acted under the 1907 Hague Convention to protect distressed personnel.
- To stay neutral, Sri Lanka refused U.S. warplanes access to ground facilities, and India separately let IRIS Lavan dock at Kochi for checks in what its foreign minister called a humane gesture.