India, March 5 -- The Indian Navy on Thursday said a search and rescue mission was launched after it received a distress call from Iranian warship IRIS Dena, which was shot by a US torpedo killing most of the sailors on board.

"A distress call from IRIS Dena was received at the MRCC Colombo in the early hours of 04 March 26 as reported by the Sri Lankan Navy," the Navy said in a statement issued a day after the ship sank following an attack from a US submarine within Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone, about 19 nautical miles off the southern port city of Galle.

There were at least 130 people on board the ship when it was struck by a torpedo, in what the US defence secretary called "quiet death". Over 80 people have died in the inciden...