Two O.C. Boys Drown During Church Party

Two 12-year-old boys drowned Sunday at a church-sponsored Fourth of July pool party in their pastor’s back yard as a crowd of children played in and around the swimming pool, authorities said.

“We are in a state of shock,” said the Rev. An Thien Vo, head pastor of the Vietnamese Baptist Church in Westminster. “This is almost impossible. We don’t know why it happened.”

The gathering in Vo’s back yard was planned as a reward for young people who had worked hard all year in their church’s youth program, he said.

The two boys were identified as Quoc Thai Cao of Westminster and Man Minh Tran of Midway City. Both were described by the pastor’s wife, Minh, as “very sweet boys who loved God.”

“We ask other Christians to pray with us,” she said, choking back tears. “The only thing we know to do is pray to God to help us through this.”

According to police and witnesses, the drownings occurred about 3 p.m. when the two boys--described as close friends--apparently climbed out of a Jacuzzi in which they were playing and, unnoticed by the church’s youth minister who was supervising, slipped into the pool. Neither boy could swim, according to police.

A short time later they were seen at the bottom of the pool by the youth minister, who summoned help while others pulled them from the water.

Both were unconscious when paramedics arrived at the house in the 9100 block of Daffodil Avenue, police said. The boys were pronounced dead on arrival at separate hospitals.

At least 10 other children were in or around the pool at the time of the accident, Vo said. Another 20 high school and college-age church members were at a house next door, watching television, he said.

In addition to Vo, his wife and the youth minister, several parents were present for the festivities at the two homes, which Vo said he owns and frequently uses for church activities.

“We tried our best,” the pastor said. “This was something that nobody could foresee.”

The party had begun after Sunday services at the 300-member church, during which the youth of the congregation--including Cao and Tran--had been commended for their success and hard work in studying the Bible during the year.

According to Minh Vo, the two boys--who she said liked to spend time together--were good students from hard-working families that had immigrated to the United States from Vietnam within the past three years to provide their children with better educations.

“They were very nice boys who were helpful to their mothers,” she said, adding that both were fond of basketball and kickball. “I talked to them (Sunday) about school and they said they were doing fine, (but) complained about the strict rules.”

In the 18 years since the church was founded, she said, nothing like this had ever happened.

“You hear about this happening to other people,” she said, “but when it happens to you, it really feels different. It really hits you.”

Late Sunday afternoon, church members were gathering to offer each other comfort at the homes of the two boys’ families and at the home of their pastor, where the drownings had occurred only hours before.

“Those who are strong are trying to help the others,” Vo said. “We are suffering from shock right now. This is devastating. The people have come together closely.”

Added Minh Vo: “We’re like a big family responding to a crisis.”

While she had often worried about accidents occurring during such church outings as camping trips, Minh Vo said, she had not expected tragedy to strike in her own back yard.

“We are very careful,” she said. “The pool is always fenced up and we open it only when we have a party. We never thought that this would happen. You worry about something happening and then, when it’s right here and you least expect it, tragedy occurs.”

She said the church, many of whose members are recent immigrants from Vietnam, had never before held a Fourth of July observance. “Maybe this is the last,” she said.