Sri Lanka hospital releases 22 rescued Iranian sailors as regional fallout from US submarine attack widens
Ten sailors remain under treatment in Galle as Colombo recovers 84 bodies and provides shelter to 219 crew from second Iranian vessel
GALLE, Sri Lanka — March 8, 2026 — A Sri Lankan hospital has discharged 22 Iranian sailors who were plucked from life rafts after their warship was sunk by a US submarine last week, officials said Sunday, as the island nation navigates a delicate humanitarian and diplomatic balancing act following the first military strike far outside the Middle East since the US-Israeli war on Iran began .
The crew had been treated at Karapitiya Hospital in the southern port city of Galle since Wednesday after the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the island’s coast .
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“Another 10 are still undergoing treatment,” a medical officer at the hospital told AFP . He said the bodies of 84 Iranians retrieved from the Indian Ocean were also at the hospital .
Those discharged overnight had been transferred under heavy security in ambulances to the Sri Lanka Air Force base in Koggala, in the Southern Province, authorities said . They were subsequently taken to a beach resort in the same district as Sri Lanka’s navy ended its search on Sunday for survivors from the vessel . Just over 60 people remain missing, according to an official Sri Lankan estimate .
Humanitarian response and diplomatic neutrality
Sri Lankan authorities said the survivors from the Dena were being handled according to international humanitarian law, and the government had contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross for assistance, officials said .
Speaking on the matter Saturday, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath noted that the country takes all steps based on international law and humanitarian considerations, does not intend to support any side in the incident, and will continue to handle the matter within the framework of international legal obligations .
Sri Lanka has denied claims that it was under pressure from Washington to stop the Iranians from returning home, saying Colombo would be guided solely by international law and its own domestic legislation .
A US State Department spokesperson said the disposition of the personnel from both vessels was up to Sri Lanka.
“The United States, of course, respects and recognises Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in the handling of this situation,” the spokesperson told AFP in Washington .
Second vessel and repatriation efforts
The island is also providing safe haven for another 219 Iranian sailors from a second ship, the IRIS Bushehr, which was allowed to enter Sri Lankan waters after the Dena was sunk . The crew from the Bushehr have been moved to a Sri Lanka Navy camp at Welisara, just north of the capital Colombo, and their vessel has been taken over by Sri Lanka’s navy .
Sri Lanka announced it was taking the Bushehr to the north-eastern port of Trincomalee, but an engine failure and other technical and administrative issues had delayed the movement, a navy spokesman said .
Sri Lanka on Saturday said steps were being taken to repatriate the bodies of the 84 sailors killed in the attack. The government said that the situation had not improved yet to try sending them by air or sea .
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The magisterial inquiry and the post-mortems on the 84 bodies were concluded in the southern port town of Galle on March 5. Eighty of the 84 personnel were identified by the survivors .
Regional context
The attack on Dena was the first military strike far outside the Middle East since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran a week ago . The three Iranian ships—including the Dena and Bushehr—were part of a multinational naval exercise held by India before the war in the Middle East started last week .
India, meanwhile, said Saturday that it had allowed a third Iranian warship, the IRIS Lavan, to dock in one of its ports on “humane” grounds after it too reported engine problems .
“I think it was the humane thing to do, and I think we were guided by that principle,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday .
The Lavan docked in the south-west Indian port of Kochi on Wednesday. “A lot of the people on board were young cadets. They have disembarked and are in a nearby facility,” Jaishankar said .
Environmental concerns
Sri Lankan authorities meanwhile reported an oil slick at another nearby beach resort and said about 50 workers and volunteers had been deployed for a clean-up, while boats were being sent to check for more pollution .
“We saw a thin oil patch at Hikkaduwa beach yesterday,” said Samantha Gunasekara, chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) .
He added that parts of a damaged life raft, a barrel of lubricants and footwear had washed ashore, and officials were trying to establish if they were from the sunk Dena .
The discharge of 22 Iranian sailors from a Sri Lankan hospital marks the next phase in an unfolding humanitarian and diplomatic episode triggered by the widening US-Israeli conflict with Iran. As Colombo provides medical care, shelter and logistical support to more than 250 Iranian naval personnel while recovering 84 bodies, the island nation walks a careful line between international humanitarian obligations and regional diplomatic sensitivities.
With India also offering safe harbour to a third Iranian vessel, the Indian Ocean has become an unexpected arena for the conflict’s humanitarian fallout. For the families of the more than 60 sailors still missing, and for the injured recovering in Galle, the war that began thousands of kilometres away has arrived on their shores with devastating consequences.
With inputs from
1 Xinhua: Sri Lanka transfers rescued Iranian sailors to air force base
2 Vanguard: Sri Lanka hospital releases 22 rescued from torpedoed Iranian vessel
3 RTL Today: Sri Lanka hospital releases 22 rescued Iranian sailors
4 CNBC TV18: 22 Iranian sailors of IRIS Dena discharged from Sri Lankan hospital
5 Tempo.co: Sri Lanka Says Iranian Ship Sinks off Coast
6 Griffin Daily News: Sri Lanka hospital releases 22 rescued from torpedoed Iranian vessel
10 Rediff: 22 Iranian sailors of IRIS Dena discharged from Sri Lankan hospital
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