CHENNAI: Chief minister
Edappadi K Palaniswamy
on Monday said that the state government was taking all steps to bring the bodies of four students from Tamil Nadu who drowned in River Volga in Russia on Saturday.
In a statement, the CM said that he was deeply saddened by the death of four youths and expressed
condolences
. Mohamed Ashiq of Dharapuram in
Tirupur
, Manoj Anand of Salem, R Vignesh of Thittakudi in Cuddalore district and M Stephen of Chennai, who were final year medicine students at Volgagrad State Medical University, drowned in River Volga on Saturday.
“As soon as I heard the tragic incident, I instructed officials to contact our
external affairs ministry
and Indian embassy in Russia to take all necessary steps to bring the bodies to their native places,” he said.
DMK president M K Stalin said he was heartbroken to hear about the incident. “I offer my sincere condolences to the families. I urge (external affairs minister) S Jaishankar to ensure that necessary assistance is provided to the families through this difficult time,” he tweeted.
PMK leader
Anbumani Ramadoss, in a statement, offered condolences to the family members of the four. “The families of four youth would have sent them to Russia to pursue medicine amidst lot of difficulties. The families would have been devastated now,” he said.