Four Indian medical students drowned while swimming in a river in northwest Russia, officials announced Friday.
The incident occurred Tuesday on the Volkhov River in Veliky Novgorod, according to the regional investigating committee.
“The students were swimming in an area where bathing is banned,” it said. “Two of them started being carried away by the current, and two others jumped in to save them. After some time, all four went underwater”.
According to the Indian consulate in Saint Petersburg, a fifth student “was saved,” and they are studying medicine at Veliky Novgorod University.
It stated that their relatives had been contacted and that attempts were on to repatriate their bodies “as soon as possible.”.
Russian investigators stated Friday that two bodies had been retrieved thus far.
Veliky Novgorod, one of Russia’s oldest cities, is located approximately 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Saint Petersburg.
The Volkhov River flows through the city on its route to the massive Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia.
