Body of missing teenager found at Ha Tinh beach

Head of Thien Cam Tourist Site Management Board, Hoang Xuan Huong, announced on Monday evening that rescue forces found the body some two kilometres from the beach.

According to a report by local authorities, a group of four visitors from Hanoi arrived at Thien Cam Beach to swim at 7.30 am on July 4. While swimming in an area some 40 metres from the shore, they were swept away in a rip current. Hearing their calls for help, people rushed in and managed to save two. Meanwhile, a 50-year-old woman and her 13-year-old child were swept far out. The rescue team then found the body of the mother at 10 am.

The saved woman in the group, Huong Giang, said that she and her son went with the victims to the beach early on Monday morning.

“We were standing very close to each other,” Giang remembered. “The water level was just at our belly but we could not stand firmly. The strong waves kept pushing us far from shore. We yelled for help while trying to return to the shore. Some people rushed to us and managed to take me, my son, and my friend back to shore while my friend’s son went missing. My son and my friend were unconscious at that time and we were taken to hospital. Unfortunately, my friend could not recover.”

The head of Thien Cam Tourist Site Management Board said that the beach was quite shallow and flat and the tide was falling at the time of the incident.

“Rescue forces are only available to monitor the beach in the afternoon,” he said. “We have also put up warning sign boards in deep or rip current areas.”