The country has about 3,500 children on average die of drowning every year, with the latest 3 cases happening yesterday in Dak Nong and Phu Yen Provinces, the Department for Children Care and Protection has warned.
In 2010, the number of drowned children was about 2,800, but last year the figure increased to nearly 3,500, the department said.
When asked why the department has yet to launch a campaign to teach children to swim , An said most of the drowned children were under 6 years old and at the age children are hard to be taught to swim.
According to the ministry’s statistics, Ha Noi, Nghe An and Thanh Hoa are leading the country in the number of drowned children, with 132-180 deaths every year in each of the localities.
In the Central Highlands, the northern part of central region and the Mekong Delta, the yearly death tolls range from 75 to 100 children.
The department has launched a project aimed at minimizing deaths by drowning among children on 15 provinces and cities since 2009, but due to many reasons, only 7 of them have been able to reduce the number of drowned children.
Three children drown
At 3:30 pm yesterday, Le Van Cuong and his wife, Vo Thi Phi, of Thuan An Commune, Dak Min District, Dak Nong Province, could not find their two daughters, Le Thi Uyen Chi and Le Thi Kim Nhi, 9 and 6 years old, when they returned home from work.
They later found the children’s hats and slippers floating in the fish pond in front of their house. After diving into the pond to search for the children, they discovered the children’s bodies at the bottom.
This is the fifth case of drowning that has happened in the province since March, taking the total deaths by drowning to 12 children.
The same day the police in Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province, reported that 7-year-old Dinh Tran Bao Ngan drowned while bathing in a swimming pool at Thuan Thao resort in Ward 7 the night before.
