HUBBALLI: After the death of a medical student from Haveri in war-hit Ukraine, the parents of Indian students from several parts of North Karnataka are in panic mode. The parents who were unable to reach their wards in the last two days are glued to their phones and television sets hoping to get some good news about the evacuation of their children.
Naveen, the 21-year-old medical student from Haveri, died on Tuesday morning in what is suspected to be a shelling from Russia. He was hit outside a supermarket, when he was returning after getting snacks for himself and his friends.
As the news of an Indian student having died in shelling in Ukraine spread, the other medical students who were staying with him in the bunker panicked. They informed their parents, increasing anxiety back home.
Since then the parents are asking their children to return immediately and are also putting pressure on the local politicians in their respective districts. So far, nine students from Haveri, nine from undivided Ballari district, and four medical students from Dharwad, are either stuck in Ukraine or are making efforts to reach the respective border areas to catch the buses and flights.
When videos of Indian and foreign nationals crowding the railway station at Kharkiv in Ukraine started emerging, the parents panicked, looking at the chaos. “My daughter Tanisha was on the phone till Tuesday. But we are unable to contact her in the last 12 hours. We hope she will reach the pickup points without any hassle,” said her mother in Ballari. “When we spoke to her last, she informed us that she had reached the embassy office,” she added.