HANOI: Five teenage students drowned in northern Vietnam on Monday (May 18) after one was caught in a powerful river current and four friends jumped in to attempt a rescue, state media reported.
The accident happened after school hours in Phu Tho province when the students, aged 13 and 14, went swimming after studying for an examination, the VNExpress news site said.
Authorities had recovered all five bodies from the Lo river by early evening, it said.
Four primary and lower middle school students drowned in a separate incident on the Banh Lai river in Dak Lak province on Saturday.
They were also reportedly swept away while swimming.
According to Vietnam's health ministry, roughly 2,000 children between the ages of five and 15 drown in the country every year. - AFP
