Boy thrown into canal by mother's ex-lover, saved by two passers-by

Bui Ngoc Tho, 63, and his son Bui Huu Thanh, 39, were riding their rice boat along the canal in Long Xuyen City of An Giang Province when they heard screaming at around 11 a.m. on Monday.

The two men stopped the boat, looked around and saw a little boy struggling in the water. Thanh immediately jumped into the canal and got the boy.

As the currents were strong, Thanh could not swim straight to the shore with the boy in his arms, so his father rode the boat nearby and dropped down a rope to pull him over.

Bui Ngoc Tho and his son Bui Huu Thanh on their boat in An Giang Province, September 11, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Tien Tam

Following the rescue, police arrested Huynh Hong Hai, 40, a Long Xuyen local that same day over suspicion that he had thrown the boy into the canal. Hai told police that he and the boy's mother used to have a romantic relationship.

After they broke up, the woman got married and gave birth to the boy but has still met Hai on occasion, it was reported.

Last Sunday, she brought her son to visit Hai at his home. During the visit, Hai offered to take the boy out on his motorbike. When arriving at the canal, he stopped in the middle of a bridge and threw the boy into the water, he said.

The bridge from where a four-year-old boy was thrown into the canal in An Giang Province, September 11, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Tien Tam

Police said the incident was captured by a dash cam of a car. Hai is now under arrest for further investigation.

Long Xuyen authorities praised Tho and his son for their bravery and gave them a certificate of merit.

The boy was physically unharmed after the incident and has been returned to his family.