Chennai, Jul 4 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Wednesday said 18 out of 19 pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar from Chennai, stranded in Nepal due to bad weather, have returned to the country and will be reaching the state later in the day.

Announcing this in the Assembly, Palaniswami said 18 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu have reached Lucknow on Wednesday morning from Nepalgunj. The remaining one person was also expected to reach the Uttar Pradesh capital later.

All of them were expected to reach here by late Wednesday, he said.

Palaniswami also said steps were being taken to bring another four pilgrims from Krishnagiri district to India via Nepalgunj. They had reached Simikot in Nepal on Tuesday.

According to the Chief Minister, out of the nine member pilgrim group from Theni district, 69-year-old Ramachandran was not able to complete the trip due to his health condition and had died on his way back.

Palaniswami said Ramachandran's remains were in a hospital in Kathmandu. His son and daughter were also there and efforts were being taken to bring his body to his native place by Wednesday or Thursday.