Five teenage students have drowned in the northern part of the country after one was caught in a powerful river current and four friends jumped in to attempt a rescue, state media reported.
The accident on Monday 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 Monday evening, it said.
In a separate incident, four primary and lower middle school students drowned 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
