Chennai: Informing that the 10 students from Tamil Nadu who are part of the contingent of 148 students stranded in Trabzon, Turkey, to participate in sports events, are safe, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa appealed to their parents not to be apprehensive of their wards' safety.
For its part the Centre is touch with the Indian embassy officials in Turkey and would take all necessary measures to bring back the students safely, Union minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping Pon Radhakrishnan assured.
Following media reports on the uncertainty prevailing in the coup-hit Turkey and concerns among the parents over the safety of their children, Ms. Jayalalithaa ordered her officials to get in touch with the Indian embassy authorities in Turkey and ascertain the facts. When contacted, the Indian embassy officials conveyed that the all the Indian students including 10 from Tamil Nadu were safe and that they would be sent home once the sports conclude on July 18. "Hence, the parents need not be apprehensive," Ms. Jayalaithaa assured, in a statement here on Saturday.
Meanwhile, during his brief stop-over in the city on Saturday, Mr. Radhakrishnan said he would meet Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and urge her to ensure the students who had gone to take part in the World Schools Championship in Trabzon, were flown home safely. One of the students from Tamil Nadu V. Tamilselvi, a student of TST Rajah School in Royapuram in Chennai recorded a message on her mobile phone and Whatsapped it across for SOS to reach India.
