Three people died in separate drowning incidents in Battambang yesterday, while a fourth died in Banteay Meanchey.

In Battamban’s Phnom Prek district, 6-year-old Kuy Lin died in a stream while her parents were planting rice.

“Sister Lin is drowning!” other children shouted, police said, but it was too late to revive the child.

Meanwhile, an 18-month-old toddler perished in a canal while her mother was caring for her sick grandmother in a village in Rokak Kiri district.

And yesterday afternoon, 43-year-old farmer Neum Oun drowned while using plastic bottles to swim as he picked water lilies in a lake in Mong Russey district.

Heavy rain and strong winds that kicked up had suddenly ripped his buoyancy aids away, police said.

In Banteay Meanchey, an allegedly drunk construction worker in Poipet Town drowned in a water container he used as a place to sleep, because it had filled with rain.

Ranjan Poudyal, country director for Save the Children, said more people needed to learn to swim. “There is not a culture of parents teaching their children to swim, often because parents were not taught themselves,” he said.