3,500 young drown in Vietnam every year
Seventh grader praised for saving two drowning kids

A child receives first aid from the rescue team after going swimming in a beach in Binh Thuan Province on Sunday. — Photo nguoiduatin.vn

Doan Cong Thanh and Tran Van Dau, students at Ham Thang Secondary School in Ham Thuan Bac District, drowned during a swim at a beach with three other friends in Ham Tien Ward in Phan Thiet City, Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper reported.

After swimming for a few minutes, the boys tried to signal to people that they were having problems. Their friends and people on shore quickly called for help from a rescue team at the beach.

The rescue team promptly brought three of them to the shore, while two others were missing. Ten minutes later, the two boys were found in a coma and were taken to the local hospital, but did not survive.

Drowning is one of the main causes of deaths of children in Vietnam. More than 2,000 children die from drowning annually.

A report from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs found that from 2010 to 2015, more than 3,000 children died from drowning annually due to a lack of swimming skills, poor supervision and natural disasters.

On March 21, eight primary and secondary school male students from Hoa Binh Province drowned after swimming in a local river.

VNS