Boy found dead 40 hours after being washed down sewer in Vietnam
The body of an eight-year-old boy who was washed down a sewer during heavy rain on October 16 in Binh Duong Province was found on October 18.
A farmer found the boy next to a stream around three kilometers from the drain.
The boy was playing in the street with three friends when a heavy downpour triggered flash floods that swept him into the sewer at around 4 p.m. on October 16.
Two men on the street managed to save the other children after seeing them struggling to hold on to each other in the swirling water.
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| Rescuers look for the boy washed down a sewer pipe in Binh Duong Province on October 17. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Tuan |
The drain was just 30 centimeters wide, but not protected by a grate. Authorities have since installed one to prevent a similar incident from occurring.
Open drains have had tragic consequences on many occasions in Vietnam, mostly involving children.
A similar incident occurred in Binh Duong in September 2014 when a nine-year-old boy was pulled into a manhole of two square meters on the sidewalk after its cover was washed away by heavy rain. The body of the boy was found two days later, around 700 meters away.
In October 2014, a five-year-old boy who fell into a flooded underground sewer in Quang Ngai Province in central Vietnam was luckier after locals acted quickly to open a manhole 40 meters away and pull him out. The boy was already unconscious and only coughed out water after five minutes of CPR.
