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The bodies of two boys who disappeared while swimming in a river last Saturday were found on Tuesday morning.
According to police, the two junior high school students, both aged 13, and two friends were swimming in the Kizu River on Saturday afternoon when they were swept away. The river was still swollen from the deluge caused by a typhoon a week earlier. Police said the river was about a meter and a half deep where the boys were swimming.
About 50 police divers and other rescue personnel searched the river on Sunday and Monday. However, a search and rescue helicopter spotted two bodies floating in the river about two kilometers downstream from where the boys were last seen just before 10 a.m. Tuesday, TBS reported. The bodies were retrieved and identified as the two missing boys, police said
© Japan Today
14 Comments
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The Chronic
Very very sad..... I tell my son, same age, never, never, never, play near rivers, lakes, ponds, or anywhere near water without strict adult supervision (namely me) and never, times 10000, under any circumstances go near water before, during or after a rainstorm, typhoon etc etc....
Rest in Peace kids.
Lowly
Well, The Chronic, I agree with the last part of your post. But I grew up playing and swimming in rivers and ponds near my house. By age 10 or or so we usually had no more supervision and were trusted by our parents.
But, Yeah, careful of changing weather conditions- changes everything. Poor kids.
gokai_wo_maneku
This kind of story is always so depressing.
Disillusioned
Sorry Chronic, I tend to disagree. I grew up on the beach in Oz and joined the surf club when I was 12. Although 13 is old enough to be playing unsupervised there is no safe age for playing in water unsupervised. I was a surf lifesaver for over twenty years and have pulled countless people of all ages out of the surf and, tragically, not all of them were alive. Kids in Japan are not taught water safety skills and playing in a swollen river is just asking for trouble. A sad tale, but these kids should not have been playing in a swollen river.
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
RIP!
Parents please dont let your kids play near water without supervision, I agree with The Chronic.
spudman
Better yet parents , teach your kids to swim, really swim, for survival not just racing up the 120cm deep pool. RIP boys and condolences to the families, sad article.
Nadège
Accident happens, it is sad but you can't always keep your kid safe. He has to learn by himself. And he will do it without warning, without asking, and if it is a boy especially if it is something dangerous or forbiden.
Bad luck happened. I am sorry for their loss. But not all parent are bad parent when there is an accident. Stop trying to reassure yourself that nothing will happened to your own kid by condaming other people.
And even if they did a mistake have you never did one that if any bad luck had happened, your kid would be like them today ?
smithinjapan
RIP to the young boys. All the same, when you have tropical storm warnings it's generally not the best time to go for a dip.
Heza!
This is heartbreaking, I hope the boys rests in peace. I pray for the families find peace.
San_Diegan
Wow! Yes, this is a sad situation. However, the posts reveal a huge tendency to overprotect their children. I'd of hated to have been some of these peoples' son. I agree with the posters who encourage ones offspring to learn how to swim. And, I mean really swim. Like the one poster said, not just in the 120cm deep pool. And knowing how to swim really good is such a great confidence builder along with self-esteem. Sadly, there are so many people in this world who swim like rocks.
toshiko
Never let your children swimming in floodeing lakes.
ka_chan
Teenaged boys do stupid things and unfortunately these boys paid with their lives. Rivers are sketchy at best especially when they are muddy and swollen from recent rains. The river water tends to be cold too which can have hypothermic effects so it wouldn't matter how good a swimmer the boys were. The cold water (10 C) can lead to death in about an hour. Since confusion is one of the early symptoms, the boys may not have known they were in trouble until they start to loose control of their limbs. You can't always protect your kids. They have a mind of their own. Just teach them to think and hope the lessons got through. Here are some statistics from the US CDC.
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/10LCID_Unintentional_Deaths_2010-a.pdf
Jack Stern
Very sad for such young ones to lose there lives trying to enjoy themselves. Ironically, so many kids go to swimming schools in Japan but a swollen river is beyond the realm of a pool which is calm and presents no danger while being supervised.
ControlFreak
13 is a bit past the age where you can you can watch a boy every second. They are going to do things behind you back, so had better have taught them well before then.
Swimming in a river after massive rainfall from a serious typhoon? Obviously, they were taught little to nothing.