At least five Srilankan fishermen have tragically lost their lives and three more are in critical condition after consuming the mysterious contents of bottles found floating in the open sea.

The Sri Lanka Navy recently reported that at least five fishermen have died after consuming an unknown liquid from bottles they found while at sea, around 320 nautical miles from Tangalle, a town on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. It’s unclear how many of these mysterious bottles were found floating out at sea, but a Navy spokesperson told journalists that they contained some sort of alcohol. The bottles were shared among the sailors of the fishing vessel named Devon, and before long, some of them started feeling sick. Despite receiving rudimentary assistance on the boat from Sri Lanka Navy medical personnel, at least five of the fishermen have died, and another is in critical condition. Unfortunately, the crew is believed to have shared the mysterious bottles with other fishing boats.

Photo: Lakshya Thakur/Unsplash

The tragic incident prompted protests in the coastal town of Tangalle, where the families of the dead sailors blamed the Sri Lankan Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources for the incident, and those of the other fishermen called for them to be brought back to land to get proper treatment. Meanwhile, Srilankan authorities have been scrambling to prevent further deaths due to the mysterious bottles.

Two other sick fishermen believed to have consumed the toxic content in the bottles were taken aboard a Singaporean merchant ship and were given emergency treatment, but it is unclear how many bottles were originally found by the crew of the Devon, and how many other people they were shared to. The Navy has been making efforts to contact all the ships the Devon’s crew interacted with since it set sail on June 4th.

 

Authorities are also investigating the contents of the mysterious bottles in order to understand what is killing people who consumed them.