2 die in water-related accidents in Gifu

Two people died in water-related accidents in Gifu Prefecture on Sunday afternoon.

In the first incident, police in Gero City said they received a call at around 1:40 p.m., reporting that two boys who had been swimming in the Kosaka river had got into difficulty. TV Asahi reported that about 30 minutes later, rescue divers found one of the boys who had sunk to the bottom of the river and pulled him out. He was rushed to the hospital but was confirmed dead on arrival.

Police said the boy, Koji Arai, 17, had been playing in the river with a school classmate when the accident occurred.

In the second incident, an 18-year-old boy drowned at around 2 p.m. in the Nagara river. The victim, Kazuki Hirano, had been canoeing on the river with three friends when all of them fell into the river. Although the three friends were able to pull themselves back up into their canoes, Hirano disappeared. Police said his body was found downstream hours later by rescue divers.

© Japan Today