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Sri Lankan Navy Finds 14 Bodies in Overturned Chinese Fishing Boat. PHOTO/Sri Lankan Navy
COLUMBUS – Navy Sri Lanka had found 14 bodies inside boat fish catcher China which was reversed last week. The shipwreck is known to be sailing with 39 crew on board.
The discovery came a day after an initial investigation by China’s Ministry of Transport concluded that all on board had died.
The Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 capsized on May 16, with 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesians and 5 Filipinos inside Australia’s vast search and rescue area, 5,000 km west of Perth.
The Sri Lankan Navy said that their divers had found two bodies and saw 12 more bodies on Tuesday (23/5/2023). The Sri Lankan navy also released photos showing the ship’s overturned red hull and bodies being pulled out of the water.
“Due to the decomposition and potential health hazards posed by operating in contaminated waters with limited protective gear, it was decided that retrieving the bodies would be extremely dangerous,” the Sri Lanka Navy said, as quoted by AFP, Wednesday (24/5/2023) ).
It was also reported that the locations of the 12 bodies on board had been mapped and handed over to the Chinese authorities. The nationality of the bodies found was not immediately known.
Australia has sent three planes and four ships to assist the international search and rescue effort.
“Rescue teams have scoured an area of about 64,000 square km, and found no signs of survivors,” said a statement from China’s Ministry of Transport.
