101 Missing After Submarine Attack On Iranian Ship Off Sri Lanka : ‘Found A Few Bodies Of Sailors’

4th March 2026 at 5:59 PM

1 minute read

Colombo : In a dramatic maritime emergency off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, at least 101 people are missing and 78 have been injured after what authorities described as a submarine attack on an Iranian ship. The incident happened in waters off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, triggering a large-scale search and rescue operation by the Sri Lankan military after the vessel issued a distress call.

A defence ministry spokesperson said the Sri Lankan Navy dispatched a rescue mission after receiving an emergency signal from the Iranian ship. The Sri Lankan Navy has dispatched a rescue mission after a distress call from an Iranian ship,” the spokesperson said earlier in the day. The spokesperson confirmed that 32 injured people have been rescued by the navy and are under treatment in hospital, revising earlier accounts of those wounded. He, however, did not provide further operational details but said Sri Lanka would take appropriate action in response to the incident.

The Sri Lanka Air Force, which joined the search operation after being alerted by the navy, reported no unusual aerial activity. A Sri Lanka Air Force spokesman said, “No aircraft observed in that area during time of distress call.”The navy said it had received a distress call from the Iranian ship and immediately informed the air force, with both forces launching a coordinated search and rescue operation.

Focusing on saving lives on the ship, afterwards we can conduct investigations into other details,” the navy spokesman said. The sinking of the IRIS Dena comes amid heightened global tensions involving Iran’s military and follows the vessel’s participation in multinational maritime engagements in India.