Local authorities reported yesterday that two teenagers drowned on Tuesday afternoon while swimming near Samaki village in Prey Veng province’s Peam Chor district; their bodies have yet to be retrieved.

Yum Mony, 17, and Chem Sophearum, 17, were students at Prey Veng High School and the sons of farmers in Bayab village, Komchay Mear district.

According to Peam Chor district police chief Cheang Muntha, a group of high school students were swimming on Tuesday afternoon when someone screamed for help.

He said authorities responded immediately, pulling four other students from a strong current.

Sum Channy, 17, one of the girls swimming, said she was playing a game of hide and seek with about 10 others, when the shallow water quickly became much deeper, and several students were pulled under by a strong current.

“[The victims] came to help but both of them disappeared,” she said.

Authorities searched until sundown on Tuesday, and yesterday families of the victims continued searching the water using oxygen tubes and grill nets, but as of 4pm, the boys’ bodies had not been found.