Three boys drown in Mekong in Nakhon Phanom
Three boys drowned while they were cooling off in the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom’s Tha Uthan district on Sunday afternoon.
They were identified as Suriya Kitisriworaphan, 9, Sarawut Konglao, 14, and Jetniphat Konglao, 10.
Wintnesses said they drowned at 3.30pm, and villagers located their bodies about two hours later.
Relatives said the three boys did not know how to swim and they were initially just playing in the water far not from the riverbank in Ban Tha Dok Kaew village in Tambon Tha Champa.
Suriya’s brother, Worawat Kitisriworaphan, 14, said he agreed to let his younger brother play in the shallow water, and had accompanied him to the river.
Worawat said Suriya wandered from the bank and slipped into a deep spot, then his two friends rushed to help him, causing all three to drown. Worawat said he tried, but failed, to save the other boys.
Meechai and Amkha Konglao, parents of Sarawut and Jetniphat, said it was hard for them to accept that they had lost both their two children in the incident.