Three police officers from Vu Quang District, Ha Tinh Province drowned when their basket boat was sucked under the Ngan Sau River by a whirlpool yesterday.
At 4 pm Thursday Lieutenant Nguyen Van Hung, 26, and Sergeant Vo Linh Thuan, 20, of the district police department, crossed the river in a canoe to Duc Lien Commune to help the local police investigate a theft that had occurred at a railway station there, said Nguyen Hong Linh, deputy secretary of the district Party Committee.
After the investigation was completed, the two officers and Tran The Dai, 51, deputy head of the Duc Lien commune police, used a basket boat to cross the river to return to the district police office.
When their vessel was about 15 meters from the river’s bank, it was capsized and sunk by a powerful whirlpool, witnesses said.
All three officers tried to swim away, but they failed and were submerged by the swift current.
The father of the late Lieutenant Nguyen Van Hung mourned over his son's death (Photo: Lao Dong)
Local rescuers were called to the scene to look for the victims, but they could not find their bodies until 6 pm.
The victims’ bodies were taken to Duc Lien their families later that evening.
A number of officials from the provincial People's Commitee and the district authorities have visited the victims' families and given incense to the deceased.
The body of Tran The Dai was taken home in Binh Quang Hamlet, Duc Lien Commune (Photo: VietNamNet)
The section of Ngan Sau River where three police officers drowned yesterday after their mission (Photo: VnExpress)
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