Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

These are the tragic images of five dead middle school students who drowned on a picnic one day after their headmaster warned them not to play near water if they were poor swimmers.

According to reports, the unnamed victims were eighth graders at Trung Thanh Middle School in the district of Yen Thanh in the northern Vietnamese province of Nghe An.

The victims were part of a group who decided to enjoy a picnic near the Trai Xanh Dam on the afternoon of 30th May.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

Tragedy struck when one of 15 group members went to the water’s edge to wash her feet and fell in.

Four boys jumped in to help the struggling girl, but in the end all five ended up drowning, according to local media.

A female group member said: “I also jumped into the water to save them, but became too exhausted. I was lucky enough to be rescued by a friend on the bank.”

According to reports, the five bodies were fished out of the water by the emergency services late that afternoon.

Meanwhile, the local authorities have reportedly offered the victims’ families 5 million VND (170 GBP) in support.

Ironically, school headmaster Tran Thi Hai Van warned students of the “risk of drowning during summer activities” at the end-of-year assembly just the day before the tragic incident.

According to local media, there were 20 reported student drownings in the province of Nghe An during 2018.

However, 30 youngsters have already died in the province during the first half of 2019.