Four students from Tamil Nadu pursuing medical education in Russia drowned in a river in that country and directions have been issued to bring back their remains back home at the earliest, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Monday. He said he has directed senior government officials to immediately get in touch with the External Affairs Ministry and the Indian embassy in Russia, and arrange for bringing back the bodies of the four who drowned in the Volga river.

The victims were studying at the Volgograd State Medical University, he said in a statement here. The four students are Mohammed Ashiq of Tiruppur district, R Vignesh (Cuddalore), Manoj Anand (Salem) and Stephen (Chennai). Expressing his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families, Palaniswami said he was "extremely anguished" over the news of the death of the four students on August 8.

The family of Manoj Anand had petitioned Palaniswami in Salem on Sunday requesting him to take steps to bring his body back to the country. Palaniswami today assured that senior government officials were carrying out his instructions on coordinating with the external affairs ministry and Indian embassy in Russia, to arrange for bringing back the bodies.