Nguyễn Phương Danh Park in Thị Tứ Hamlet, Phong Điền Commune, where an electric leak occurred during high tide, causing two children to be electrocuted to death on Thursday evening.— VNA/VNS Photo

CẦN THƠ — Two children were fatally electrocuted during flooding caused by unusually high tides in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ on Thursday evening.

Local police said the incident occurred at around 7pm when floodwaters from the rising tide inundated Nguyễn Phương Danh Park in Thị Tứ Hamlet, Phong Điền Commune and the adjacent road.

Initial reports revealed that N.G.T., 10, residing in Mỹ Phước Hamlet, An Bình Ward, in the city, was cycling into the park to play when he was suddenly electrocuted near a streetlight pole partially submerged in floodwater.

Nearby residents rushed to help and quickly took the child to the Cái Răng–Phong Điền Regional Medical Centre.

However, despite emergency efforts, he succumbed to severe electric shock.

Local people then warned other children not to enter the flooded area.

However, two more children L.H.V., 15, and Đ.N.T., 15, living in Mỹ Nhơn Hamlet, An Bình Commune, reportedly ignored the warnings and cycled into the same area near the electrified lamp post. Both were struck by electric current.

Đ.N.T. managed to leap away from the affected zone, but L.H.V. fell unconscious at the scene. Both of them were also taken to the Cái Răng–Phong Điền Regional Medical Centre for emergency but V. did not survive. 

Local authorities are urgently investigating the cause of the electrical leak.

The accident coincided with one of the highest tidal peaks ever recorded in the soythern city.

The city’s Hydro-Meteorological Station reported that the tide at the Cần Thơ hydrological station on the Hậu River reached 2.33m at 6pm on Thursday, just an hour before the tragedy.

The level not only exceeded the third warning threshold by 0.33m but also broke the city’s previous record of 2.27m set in 2022, becoming the highest tide recorded in recent years.

The combination of record tides and heavy rainfall caused severe and widespread flooding across the city, paralysing central urban areas and significantly affecting nearby towns such as Ngã Bảy, Sóc Trăng and Vị Thanh.— VNS