Sri Lanka Navy salvage wreckage of Lion Air

Special diving teams of the Sri Lanka Navy on Saturday salvaged six parts of the huge wreckage of the Lion Air aircraft that crashed into the Northern seas off Iranatheevu in 1998 along with 48 civilians.

The operation commenced around 7.30 am yesterday when weather conditions improved

They commenced salvaging the wreckage after postponing their initial effort in October 2012 due to bad weather,

According to the Navy a special team of 80 divers and two landing crafts Rana Gaja LCM and L 820 landing craft are engaged in the salvaging of the wreckage in the seas off Iranatheevu.

The remaining parts of the wreckage will be salvaged by the Navy team today (05)..

The Navy is conducting the salvage operation in the presence of the TID officials and the Magistrate..

The Sri Lanka Navy engaged in the salvage operation on the request of the Terrorist Investigation Division of the Police, based on a statement given by an LTTE cadre under their custody.

The Lion Air flight 602, AN 24 aircraft carrying 48 civilians and eight crew including two Ukrainian pilots went missing on September 29, 1998 over the Northern seas and it was believed that terrorists in a missile attack, shot down Antonov 24 aircraft over Iranatheevu Island, 10 minutes after it took off from Palaly.

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