A couple sitting on the bank of a canal in Ho Chi Minh City felt victims to a robbery gang, who pushed their victims into the canal, causing a young man to drown yesterday. Police in HCMC City are hunting for a gang of three robbers who took a mobile phone from a young woman, hit her boyfriend in the head and then kicked both into the Tau Hu Canal that runs along Vo Van Kiet avenue in District 5. The young woman, 25-year-old Luc Thuy Trang of Kien Giang Province, was saved later while her boy friend, 22-year-old Nguyen Huu Chi of Ben Tre Province, was drowned. After being recovered from the attack, Trang, who works for a pub on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street in Ward 8, District 5, told police about what had happened. At about 1 am Friday, Trang left the pub and took a stroll with Chi on Vo Van Kiet avenue. They then came to the bank of the canal and sat there talking. At that time, there young men suddenly came on two motorbikes. One of them told the couple, “Do you bring your ID cards along? If not, give us VND150,000 (US$7.2)!” The gangster then searched Trang’s trouser pockets and found a mobile phone. He took the device away while Chi showed his anger towards the robbers. One of the gangster told Chi, “Do you think that we can cause your lover to fall into the canal?” With these words, they kicked Trang into the canal and beat Chi with a rock in the head. The gangsters then kicked the injured young man into the canal and escaped on their motorbike. Trang began shouting for help and some locals rushed to the scene but they could save the woman only. Police and rescuers were called to the canal to search for Chi but he remained missing until his body was discovered at 4 am.