Passports and visas were issued swiftly to family members of G V Loganathan, one of the victims in the campus shooting at Virginia Tech University, to enable them visit the United States to perform his last rites.

The passports were issued to four family members within an hour of receiving their applications under instructions from the External Affairs Ministry and US consulate officials quickly granted visas to nine members of the family, a rare phenomenon.

Five members already had passports.

The Tamil Nadu government would bear the travel expenses of all the family members, who would be leaving for the US on Wednesday by a Lufthansa flight.

Passport Officer Sumathy Ravichandran told reporters that passports were issued on instructions from the external affairs ministry.

The campus shooting had an echo in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, where leaders cutting across party lines, expressed grief over the killing.

Power Minister N Veerasamy said the government would bear the travel expenses of the family members.