Hanoi - Four students drowned when their boat capsized on a
river in central Vietnam's Quang Ngai province, an official said Monday. The boat was carrying 12 high
school students on a trip after the final class of the semester, said Nguyen Thanh Tung, chairman of the district People's Committee.
The boat was crossing the Tra Khuc River Sunday when it hit a large wave. Three girls and one boy drowned while eight others were rescued by bystanders.
"The main reason was that the boat was overloaded," Tung said.
Four
women drowned in another incident Sunday when they slipped off a rock into a scenic lake while having their pictures taken.
Huynh Cong Minh, deputy chairman of Dong Hoa Commune in the southern province of Binh Duong, said the women, who worked at a Ho Chi Minh City shoe factory, were standing on a rock 3 metres from the shore of Stone Lake in a former rock quarry.
Two fell off, and the other two were pulled under while trying to rescue them. Two male co-workers tried to reach them but failed.
Minh said about 30 people have drowned in the lake, a popular tourist site in Dong Hoa Commune.
The newspaper Tuoi Tre reported Monday that the four women, aged 20 to 22, were roommates. They had planned to return to their home province of Nghe An after Tuesday when they were scheduled to receive
bonuses for Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.
A 2008 World Health Organization report cited drowning as the top cause of accidental death among children in Vietnam. Many Vietnamese do not know how to swim, and an average of 10 children under 15 drown every day.
