Chennai, Aug. 10 -- Four students studying medicine at the Volgograd State Medical University in Russia drowned in Volga river in a tragic accident on Sunday.

The tragic incident has left their families back home in shock and despair.

Ashiq Mohammed, Manoj Anand, R Vignesh, and Stephen Lebaku had gone to the river. One person entered the water, and hearing his cries for help, the other three students tried to help him but drowned.

"He was in his final year of medicine and was supposed to finish his studies. It was his dream to become a doctor," says Mohammad Rafi, bereaved father of Mohamed Ashiq.

"He went out with some friends and they drowned. If the government helps us retrieve the body we can do the last rites."

Anand Kumar, Step...