Two university students from Western Australia have been shot in New Orleans after venturing into the West Bank area to buy drugs.

The men had competed in the 38th Intercollegiate Mining Games in Montana as part of the Wombats team representing Curtin University’s WA School of Mines and had travelled to New Orleans for a private holiday.

Curtin vice-chancellor Deborah Terry said both students were in hospital and were reported to be in a stable condition.

New Orleans police said the men are aged 21 and 23, and had taken a taxi to the Algiers area, which is one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods, to meet with a drug dealer at about 4.15am on Wednesday.

At some point during the meeting, one of the students was shot in the stomach while the other was shot in the chest.

New Orleans police said in a statement:

According to the victims, ages 21 and 23, they were inside of a bar in the 500 block of Bourbon Street when they approached an unknown black male and requested to purchase drugs from him. The victims told detectives that they then left the bar and followed the subject to a four door dark-colored sedan, where an unknown male driver was waiting inside. The driver took the two victims toward Algiers and along the way, he told them that it would cost several hundred dollars to purchase drugs. The victims told the driver they did not have the money available. When they arrived at LB Landry Avenue and Shepard Street, the pair said they exited the vehicle and were approached by another unknown male who demanded their money. When they told him they didn’t have it, the unknown male shot them both and then jumped in the vehicle with the unknown driver and fled the scene. Based on the initial investigation, detectives believe a total of three suspects were involved in the incident.

Terry said both students’ families had been contacted and were arranging to travel to the US, where support would be offered by School of Mines director Sam Spearing.

“Support is also being provided to the others in the group who were not in the vicinity of the shooting and are unharmed,” she said.

“This is a very distressing situation and our thoughts are with the injured students and their families.”

The Kalgoorlie-based WA School of Mines took out top titles at the Montana event, with the Wombat A team dubbed the champions for the second straight year, while the Wombat B team was the runner-up.