US tanker strike: Indian families mourn death of sailors killed in attack

Patnala Suresh and his wife were looking forward to celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this month.

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The couple were looking forward to celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this month. Instead, Bhargavi is trying to come to terms with a future without him.

Suresh was one of three Indian sailors killed when the US military struck the MT Settebello, an oil tanker, in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday. The attack was part of Washington's effort to enforce a blockade on Iran-linked shipping, with the US military saying the tanker had ignored repeated warnings and was carrying Iranian oil. The vessel's managers dispute that account, saying it had no connection to Iran and received no warning before it was hit. Twenty-one other crew members were rescued.

The deaths have reverberated across India, from Bhargavi's home in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to towns and villages hundreds of kilometres away, where other families are mourning loved ones who left home to earn a living at sea.

As they grieve, many are also seeking answers about the circumstances of the strike and waiting for the sailors' bodies to be returned home.