First visuals: Iranian sailors brought ashore in Sri Lanka after US torpedo attack - WATCH

Amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Iranian warship IRIS Dena sank off Sri Lankan coast in the Indian Ocean after being hit by Mark 48 torpedo from a US submarine. The vessel sank in the early hours, approximately 40 nautical miles off the coast of Galle. The death toll has mounted to 87, with 32 survivors. In the latest development, visuals of the survivors being brought ashore have surfaced. The vessel had participated in India’s naval exercise MILAN 2026 in Vishakhapatnam and was returning to its base in Iran when it was targeted.

After the incident, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told parliament that 32 rescued Iranians were rushed to the main hospital in the island's south. At the same time, two navy craft and a plane were deployed to search for survivors. The frigate issued a distress call at dawn on Wednesday, and within less than an hour, a rescue vessel reached the area about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the southern port of Galle, the minister said.

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The frigate had completely sunk, and only an oil patch remained when the navy rescue boats approached. "We are keeping up a search, but we don't know yet what happened to the rest of the crew," a defence official told AFP, dimming prospects for finding any more survivors. The director at the Karapitiya hospital in Galle, SD Ranga, said he was told there may be fatalities, but only 32 injured sailors had been brought in.

Indian Navy responds to SOS call

On Thursday (March 5), the Indian Navy responded to the distress call sent by the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which sank in the Indian Ocean off the Sri Lankan coast on Wednesday (March 4). The navy has launched a search and rescue operation. In its statement, the navy mentioned that a distress call from IRIS Dena reached the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Colombo on Wednesday (March 4).

According to the Indian Navy, a long-range maritime patrol aircraft was deployed to aid the search operations. Authorities in the island nation are continuing with the search and rescue operation. Training ship INS Tarangini, operating in the vicinity, received orders to assist and reached the site on the day of the incident.