Built 20 years ago, the eco-tourist site, 20km away from Ho Chi Minh City, is a popular place for camping and outdoor activities for people from HCMC, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai.
The victim was identified as 24-year-old Phuong, who traveled to the site together with a group of friends from Ho Chi Minh City.
The life jacket came off Phuong’s body after she challenged herself with a Tarzan game (jumping into the water) at the tourist site, leading to her tragic drowning.
“She raised her hands up to call for help. Many tourists on shore called the site’s staff amid a chaotic scene” – an eyewitness told VnExpress.
Other eyewitnesses said a rescuer jumped into the water but turned his head back to the shore after swimming for a few meters.
“Some rescuers paddled a canoe but failed to start it immediately” – Bach Phong Bao, a witness at the scene, told VnExpress.
Bao added the rescuers on a canoe arrived at the drowning scene 20 minutes later but it was too late to save Phuong.
“They not only slowly responded to the incident but also had no medical staff or ambulances” – Bao complained.
Nguyen Viet Tien, manager of the ecotourism site, told VnExpress that Phuong drowned at her own fault. “She took off her life vest’s waist belt after she tried the Tarzan game many times. She forgot to wear the belt as she continued to play this game” – he said.
Tien said the drowning incident was 40 meters away from the shore. A rescuer swam to the scene but turned back after swimming for just 3 meters in order to get a diving mask.
“This rescuer later rushed to the scene but he moved in a wrong direction” – the manager said.
Asked about the slow response to the incident, Tien said that before the accident, a canoe rescuer went home to deal with an urgent work.
“After being informed of the accident, I assigned more staff to the scene. The victim was taken to shore 10 minutes later but she could not be saved” – said Tien. The manager added the site’s ambulance was used for other tasks at the time of the accident.
Police are investigating.
Woman drowns at Bo Cap Vang eco-tourist site Related image(s)
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