Sri Lanka, March 4 -- Around 180 individuals were on board the Iranian Navy vessel 'IRIS Dena', which was in distress about 40 nautical miles off the coast of Galle this morning (04).

Around 30 of them have been rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy and are being brought to the Galle National Hospital Teaching Hospital, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vijitha Herath said in Parliament today.

Earlier, the Sri Lanka Navy confirmed that around 30 individuals were rescued from the Iranian Navy vessel in distress off Sri Lanka's southern seas.

The Sri Lanka Air Force has deployed an aircraft to the area of the incident to assist with search operations.

Meanwhile, speaking in Parliament today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath noted that ...