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| The beach where those schoolboys played before two of them went missing in the sea. — Photo tienphong.vn |
Viet Nam News
HÀ TĨNH — Two schoolboys drowned while swimming in the sea in central Hà Tĩnh Province on Monday afternoon.
Hồ Xuân Phong and Nguyễn Tông Dũng, both 14, were reported missing on Monday after strong waves swept them away from a beach in the province’s Thiên Cầm Township. Their bodies were found this afternoon following a one-day search by local authorities and residents.
The two boys, accompanied by eight other schoolmates from Cẩm Trung Secondary School, were playing on Thiên Cầm’s beach when nine of them decided to go for a swim in the local sea. The only boy who stayed on the beach said sudden strong waves swept three boys away and he rushed to call for help from the nearby border guards.
The guards later succeeded in rescuing one boy, but were unable to rescue Phong and Dũng. Nguyễn Đình Kỷ, the township’s chairman, said search for the missing boys started right after the incident occurred. However, the first body was found 3km from the incident site on Tuesday afternoon.
The local search team said the rough sea prevented them from finding the bodies sooner.
Recently, Hà Tĩnh reported a programme to train students in swimming was completed at local schools. Drowning is a major cause of deaths of children in Việt Nam, and educators have demanded the inclusion of swimming in the school’s extra curriculum, however, not many schools have achieved the target. — VNS
