Three students in a Central Highlands province were found dead after drowning on Monday, local authorities confirmed.

Tran Thi Xuan Thao, 12, from Dak Ru Commune, Dak Nong, a Central Highlands province, and the other two, Do Cao Ky Duyen, 12, and Tran Thi My Nang, 15, from Phu Son Commune, Binh Phuoc, a southern province, drowned when bathing in the Dak Ru irrigation reservoir in Dak R’Lap District, according to local authorities.

The three bodies were found at around 6:30 pm the same day, police officers said.

They were handed over to their families for burial on Tuesday, they added.

Huynh Thi Phuc in Phu Son Commune, an eyewitness who is also a friend of the victims, recounted that in the afternoon Duyen, Nang, and her arrived at Thao’s home before going for a swim at the said reservoir.

Phuc then decided to stay on the bank of the reservoir to wait for her friends bathing and frolicking in the water, then noticing that Duyen, Nang, and Thao were drowning.

“I rushed back and screamed for help,” she sadly said, moaning that she failed to rescue her friends.

Authorities in Dak Ru Commune and Dak R’Lap District immediately sent rescue units to save the three, but not until 6:30 pm did the teams discover the students’ bodies.

Local authorities have visited the victims’ families to commiserate and support each with VND3 million (US$134.4) for funeral rites.

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