Two twin brothers were found dead early on Thursday in a flooded area in front of their home in Quang Binh Province, north-central Vietnam, local authorities confirmed the same day.

The boys, V.V.Tr. and V.V.Q., were two-year-old natives of Son Thuy Commune in Le Thuy District, according to the Son Thuy administration.

At around 5:00 am, when floodwaters had just begun receding from the home, their paternal grandparents opened the doors to clean up the property.

The kids woke up on their own and crawled outside to play.

When the grandparents stepped away from the house for a moment, the boys fell into the yard, which was submerged under nearly half a meter of water, and drowned.

Following the fatal incident, local officials visited the bereaved family to offer condolences and assistance.

Son Thuy is one of the hardest-hit areas in Le Thuy due to the recent flooding caused by tropical storm Trami, the sixth storm to strike the East Vietnam Sea this year.  

By Thursday morning, floodwaters in most households in the area had ebbed.

Data released by the provincial steering committee for natural disaster prevention and control showed that the recent floods left four local residents dead, including three in Le Thuy, one in Quang Ninh District, and one in Dong Hoi City.

Clean-up operations are underway in Le Thuy as floodwaters slowly recede, but authorities are urging residents to remain cautious, for some roads, paddy fields, and low-lying areas are still submerged.

In Vietnam, drowning is one of the top 10 causes of accidental death among children aged 1 to 14.

Nearly 2,000 children under 16 drown each year, according to Duong Khanh Van, a representative of the World Health Organization in Vietnam.

Van shared these figures at a child drowning prevention training session organized by the Department of Children’s Affairs under the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs in Hanoi on October 8.

The WHO Vietnam official highlighted several risk factors for child drowning, including unsupervised play near water, lack of swimming skills, limited knowledge of water safety, and the use of unsafe or overcrowded watercraft without protective equipment like life vests or lifebuoys.

She added that natural disasters also increased drowning risks.

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