Fishermen dead after drinking from bottles underwater
They were convinced there was alcohol in them, so they decided to try. It ended tragically for four of them. They are dead and two others were taken to hospital. They are in critical condition.
However, the drama does not end there. It turned out that the fishermen distributed some of the bottles to passing ships.
The incident was reported by local media, which carried a message from Susantha Kahawatte, director of Sri Lanka's Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
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The fishermen were supposed to be out fishing on a ship called Devon. About 320 nautical miles (600 km) from Tangalia, a city in the south of the island, they saw bottles floating on the water.
They pulled them out of the ocean and drank the content. They also gave the bottles as gifts to the crews of passing ships. It is still not known who they ended up with.
This "gift" may end in tragedy
The navy provided first aid to the fishermen on the ship. There was no time to transport the sick to land. The services in Sri Lanka are now looking for people who may have received the deadly "gift" from the fishermen. They are establishing contact with vessels that sailed near the find during the weekend. It is not yet known what exactly was in the bottles. The authorities have ordered tests of their content.
According to media reports, the incident sparked panic and protests in the coastal city about 193 km from Colombo, with calls for the surviving sailors to return to land.
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