Five children drown in failed rescue attempt

After the deaths of five junior high school students, four of whom drowned trying to save their friend who had fallen in a river in Boluo county, Guangdong Province on Saturday, local authorities have vowed to strengthen safety education.

The bodies of all five were later recovered from the river by a team of rescuers.

The five were part of a group of eight male students from the county town's Luoyang No.1 High School who had gone for a barbecue along the Dongjiang River Saturday morning.

The four students linked arms to save their friend, but all were swept away. The other three students called police, according to a press release by the Boluo county government.

A crew of 70 people, including 20 professional rescuers, were sent to the scene.

The town will launch safety education activities to strengthen students' awareness, and prevent such accidents from reoccurring, a staffer with the Boluo county government said Sunday.

China sees a spike in drowning accidents involving children every summer.

In June 2012, 16 students died in three separate accidents in one day across the nation, prompting the Ministry of Education to order a nationwide campaign to alert parents and teachers to the dangers.

"Our youngsters have academic knowledge but still lack life education that teaches them to cherish life, as well as how to mitigate risks and act in a crisis. Very few schools are doing this," Xiao Chuan, a professor of education at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times Sunday.