Press TV - As many as 19 people have been martyred and 15 others injured in an incident involving the Iranian Navy’s Konarak logistical vessel in the country’s southern waters.

The incident happened on Sunday as a number of Navy vessels were conducting an exercise near the waters lying close to Jask and Chabahar ports that respectively belong to neighboring provinces of Hormozgan, and Sistan and Baluchestan, the Navy’s Public Relations’ Department said in a statement on Monday.

The statement noted that the injured are currently in stable condition.

“Naval relief and rescue teams reached the location shortly after the incident, retrieving the injured and the martyrs from the vessel and transferring them to medical centers,” the statement noted.

‘Exemplary courage’

“The forces stationed on the vessel displayed exemplary courage in their endeavor to rescue their fellow servicemen,” the Navy said.

After the incident, the casualties were dispatched to the Haft-e Tir Pier in Chabahar, and transferred to the city’s Imam Ali (PBUH) Hospital via ten ambulances.

An informed military source, meanwhile, dismissed reports that the vessel had been totally destroyed in the incident, saying it had been towed to the shore afterwards.

The Navy statement confirmed that Konarak had been transferred to a local pier for technical examination.