Eight children drown in southwest China after playing near river, prompting calls for water awareness lessons
- Seven children believed to have gone to the rescue of friend who fell in the river before all drowned
- Incident sparks new calls for children to be taught basic rescue techniques and first aid at school
The bodies of eight primary school students have been retrieved by rescuers after they drowned in a river in southwest China, state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.
The students fell into a river in the village of Tongjia, in the Tongnan district of Chongqing, at around 3.30pm on Sunday, the district’s publicity department said.
The victims were pupils at a local primary school who were playing by the Fu River when one of them fell in. The other seven tried to save the first student and all fell in, an early government report said.
The local government promptly sent a rescue team. A video obtained by the Chutian Metro Daily showed rescuers searching the riverbanks and preparing rafts while villagers watched.
Villagers told the newspaper that the part of the river where the children fell was about 50 metres (164 feet) wide. Most of the students who fell in were girls. Several bodies were retrieved by Sunday night.