Three charged for drowning of two Vietnamese children in Czech Republic

The police have taken in three employees of Lhota Lake resort in the Central Bohemian region near Prague in connection with the death of two seven-year-old boys last August, Radio Prague reported Monday.

If convicted, they face up to six years in prison, the station said.

Previous reports from news website Britské Listy said the boys’ mothers had sought the assistance of resort employees when they could not find their children, but the employees had been impolite and refused to search for them. The lifeguard among them was reportedly not at his post because of the heat.

They spoke to the mothers in a highly derogatory manner and regarded them as "scum," the report said, citing an unnamed witness.

It blamed the employees' initial indifference on the fact the victims were foreigners.

A search was launched for the missing boys several hours later and they were found drowned in the lake, prompting the Czech-Vietnamese community to demand a police probe into the tragedy.

More than 65,000 Vietnamese live in the Czech Republic, making it the country’s third biggest minority group.