Sri Lanka navy finds 14 bodies in capsized Chinese fishing boat Lupeng Yuanyu 028
- The discovery came a day after a preliminary Chinese government probe concluded there were no survivors
- The vessel overturned on May 16, with 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesians and five Filipinos on board within Australia’s vast search-and-rescue region, 5,000km west of Perth
The discovery came a day after a preliminary Chinese government probe concluded there were no survivors.
The Lupeng Yuanyu 028 overturned on May 16, with 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesians and five Filipinos on board within Australia’s vast search-and-rescue region, 5,000km (2,700 nautical miles) west of Perth.
The Sri Lankan navy said its divers had recovered two bodies and spotted 12 more on Tuesday, releasing photos showing the upturned red hull of the vessel and bodies being hauled out of the water.
“Due to decomposition and the potential health hazards posed by operating in contaminated waters with limited protective gear, it was determined that retrieving those bodies would be exceedingly dangerous,” the navy said in a statement.
It said the locations of the 12 bodies inside the boat were mapped and handed to Chinese authorities. The nationalities of the located bodies were not immediately known.