# Sri Lanka sends home remains of 84 Iranian sailors killed in Indian Ocean attack
Sri Lanka repatriated the remains of 84 Iranian sailors on the event date after the frigate IRIS Dena was sunk nine days earlier off the coast of Galle, according to AFP via RFI.
The report said an Airbus A340 chartered by Iran departed from Mattala International Airport carrying 84 sealed boxes containing the sailors’ remains. An airport official told AFP that the departure was delayed because all 84 boxes had to be loaded before takeoff. The destination of the flight was not disclosed.
The sailors were killed when the IRIS Dena was torpedoed on March 4 just off Sri Lanka, the report said. It described the attack as an incident that extended the Middle East war into the Indian Ocean. A local undertaker said the embalmed remains had been collected from the Indian Ocean and taken to Karapitiya Hospital in Galle for autopsies before being handed over to the Iranian embassy in Colombo under a magistrate’s order.
The report also said 32 sailors rescued from the frigate would remain in Sri Lanka for the time being. Of those, 22 had been discharged from hospital and were being held at an air force base in the south of the island. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said the country would continue to treat the sailors in line with its international obligations.
The episode left Sri Lanka hosting a larger Iranian naval presence than the one ship that was struck. The report said a second Iranian warship, IRIS Bushehr, was allowed into Sri Lankan waters a day after Dena was sunk and that Colombo was providing safe harbour for the ship and its 219 crew members. It also said Sri Lanka was currently hosting a total of 251 Iranian sailors, including the Bushehr crew at a navy camp north of Colombo.
New Delhi entered the story too. A third Iranian ship, IRIS Lavan, sailed past Sri Lanka and entered safe harbour in India’s southern port of Kochi on the same day the Dena was sunk. India said it was sheltering those sailors for humanitarian reasons, and Sri Lankan officials gave a similar explanation for their own actions.
The practical response has therefore been a mix of repatriation, temporary shelter and naval custody. But the core facts remain stark: a warship was sunk, 84 sailors died and Sri Lanka became a temporary holding point for survivors, remains and allied vessels caught up in a wider conflict far from home.
