5 students drown in northern Vietnam

Hoang Manh Hong, chief of staff of the People’s Council and People’s Committee of Song Lo Commune, confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the serious drowning incident occurred along the Lo River in the commune.

According to the official, a group of nine boys from the commune, including four born in 2013 and five born in 2012, went to the river to play, trap birds, and swim.

During the outing, five of them reportedly fell into the river and drowned.

After receiving reports of the incident, local authorities mobilized rescue forces to the scene to search for the missing children, maintain security and support the victims’ families.

By 5:00 pm the same day, rescuers had recovered all five bodies.

The victims were identified as N.T.L., born in 2013, and B.X.N., N.M.Q., N.C.T. and N.V.T., all born in 2012.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident.

Child drowning is one of the leading causes of child mortality in Vietnam.

Statistics show that around 1,800 children die from drowning in Vietnam each year, a rate significantly higher than in several neighboring countries, Dan Tri newspaper reported, citing Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Tri Thuc at an event organized by the Ministry of Health in March this year.

Most drowning deaths occur in rural and riverine areas, where children frequently live near ponds, canals, rivers and streams but often lack swimming skills and water safety knowledge.