Two Telugu students studying at a university in the UK tragically lost their lives in a drowning incident at a picturesque waterfall in Scotland. The deceased have been identified as Jithendranath Karuturi (26) and Chanakya Bolishetty (22).
The incident occurred at the Linn of Tummel near Blair of Atholl in Perthshire on Wednesday night when two men from a group of friends on an outing fell into the water and encountered difficulties.
Upon receiving the alarm from their friends, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service dispatched boat teams and vessels to aid in the rescue efforts.
"Around 7 pm on Wednesday, April 17, we received a report of two men, aged 22 and 26 years, in the water at the Linn of Tummel waterfall near Blair Atholl," said a spokesperson for Police Scotland.
Emergency services conducted searches in the area, leading to the recovery of the bodies of the two men from the water. While investigations are ongoing to determine the full circumstances, there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths, the spokesperson added.
The police will submit a report of the incident to the Procurator Fiscal, Scotland's prosecution service and death investigation body.
The Indian High Commission in London confirmed that the two students from Andhra Pradesh had "drowned in an unfortunate incident," and their bodies were discovered downstream.
The Consulate General of India in Edinburgh has been liaising with their families, and a consular official has met with a UK-based relative of one of the students.
The University of Dundee has pledged full support, with post-mortem examinations expected to take place on April 19, followed by repatriation procedures for the bodies to India, as stated in a High Commission statement.
A spokesperson for the University of Dundee expressed condolences, stating, "This has been a tragic accident that has deeply saddened us all, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of the students. We have been providing support to those families and friends during this extremely difficult time."