Two seventh graders drown in An Giang

AN GIANG – Two secondary school students have drowned while playing in an water canal near a construction site in the southern An Giang Province’s Chợ Mới District.

The deceased were seventh-graders at the local Hòa Bình Secondary School in Hòa Bình Commune, Võ Phương Bình, a local policeman said on Tuesday.

According to initial information, local people on Sunday discovered the body of Trương Hữu Vĩnh, one of the drowned boys, floating in the canal supplying water for an ongoing project to build a road in the district.

His body was brought ashore, local eyewitnesses said.

They added that they saw two pairs of slippers and two sets of clothes nearby, and therefore reported the incident to the local authorities and the victims’ families so that the search would continue.

The search efforts ended at 8:30am on Monday after authorities confirmed that the body of Huỳnh Tấn Thuận, the other drowned boy, was also found.

Thuận’s father said his son and friend went to the sand pumping area where construction was underway to play. Both did not know how to swim.

A local living near the accident site said the area resembles a deep canal but there are no warning signs.

Following the accident, the contractor has put up warning signs. – VNS