Hanoi  - Five 15-year-old schoolchildren drowned at an outdoor party near a dam in central Vietnam, adding to fears that the rate of children drowning could rise this summer, officials said Monday.

The children were celebrating the end of the academic year Sunday near a dam in Ha Tinh province, 350 kilometers south of Hanoi, when three girls and two boys fell into the water, according to Duong Van Trinh, an official with the commune.

"The girls slipped into the deep water and the boys tried to rescue them, but none of them could swim," Trinh said.

Drowning is the most frequent cause of accidental death among Vietnamese children, according to Nguyen Trong An, deputy director of the Child Protection Department in Vietnam's Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

"On average, 10 Vietnamese children under 15 drown every day," An said. "We fear that the number of children drowning will be higher over the next few months, when it will rain a lot more."

An said measures needed to prevent drowning among children include raising people's awareness about the danger, improving the environment and issuing strict regulations.

"You cannot just allow people to use dilapidated boats to carry too many students across the river without any lifebuoys on board," An said, referring to boat accidents that killed dozens of students last year.

An said organizing swimming classes at schools would be among the most effective ways to prevent drowning, but that the government had no concrete plans for such lessons yet.

"We are recommending the government institute compulsory swimming lessons in schools," An said. "The number of children drowning would significantly decrease." (dpa)