Post-mortem examinations conducted on the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors recovered from a sunken vessel have revealed that they died from fractures caused by an explosion, internal injuries and drowning, officials said on Friday (6).

The sailors had been aboard the Iranian warship IRIS Dena, which sank following a torpedo attack by a United States submarine.

Their bodies were brought to the Galle National Hospital by the Sri Lanka Navy, where a team of specialist judicial medical officers carried out the examinations.

The autopsies were conducted by Professor U.C.P. Perera, Ajitha Ranaweera, and Janaki Varushaheddeni together with 12 other forensic medical officers.

The examinations continued until 5 a.m. on Friday, with the forensic team divided into three groups in order to examine three bodies simultaneously.

Following the post-mortem examinations, the remains were placed in two designated cold storage facilities.

According to the findings, the sailors had died from blast-related fractures, internal trauma and drowning.