2 Boys, Both 12, Drown at Church Pool Party in Pastor’s Back Yard

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 was planned as a reward for young people who had worked 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. According to police and witnesses, the two boys--described as close friends--apparently climbed out of a Jacuzzi and slipped unnoticed into the pool. Neither boy could swim, according to police.

A short time later the youth minister saw them at the bottom of the pool. Both were unconscious when paramedics arrived at the house. The boys were pronounced dead on arrival at separate hospitals.