Sri Lanka Fishermen drink from found bottles - four dead
Fishermen in Sri Lanka mistook the contents of bottles floating in the sea for alcohol and drank from them. Four of them died and two are in a critical condition.
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- Four fishermen in Sri Lanka have died and two are in critical condition after drinking an unknown liquid from bottles found at sea that they mistook for alcohol.
- The Sri Lankan navy is providing medical assistance to the survivors and trying to bring them back to shore.
- The authorities are investigating the contents of the bottles and warning other crews in the area about the dangerous substance.
Four Sri Lankan fishermen have died and two others are struggling to survive after drinking an unknown liquid from bottles they found at sea.
The fishermen were about 320 nautical miles (around 600 kilometers) from Tangalle, a town on the island's southern coast, when they came across the bottles, according to local media reports.
The Sri Lankan navy said the fishermen believed the bottles contained alcohol. Susantha Kahawatte, director general of Sri Lanka's Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said the navy was currently working to bring the fishermen safely back to shore.
Contents of the bottles being investigated
Kahawatte added that the navy was providing medical assistance to the fishermen as time was too short to bring them ashore for treatment. Furthermore, the fishermen are said to have distributed some of the bottles to other crews in the area.
Attempts are being made to warn these crews. The ship of the injured fishermen had set sail from Tangalle on June 4. The incident has sparked protests in the coastal town, some 193 kilometers from the capital Colombo.
The demonstrators are demanding the swift return of the surviving fishermen. The authorities are now investigating the exact contents of the bottles found.