The Sri Lankan military has rescued at least 30 people on board a sinking Iranian ship nearby the countries waters, according to foreign minister Vijitha Herath.
Herath indicated that Colombo would take appropriate action regarding the Iris Dena ship, which had 180 crew members on board when a distress call was issued on Wednesday morning.
The foreign minister added that two Sri Lankan Navy ships and an aircraft were deployed to rescue the 30 injured sailors. According to local media, the sailors were admitted to a hospital in the southern city of Galle.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath told AFP that they "responded to a distress call in accordance with our international obligations, given that it is within our search and rescue zone in the Indian Ocean".
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