Two children drowned in the Ghaghot River at Hazirhat Gangahari in Rangpur city on Sunday. The deceased were identified as Lithun, 9, son of Abdul Latif and his cousin Abdullah, 10, son of Arif Mia. Read: 2 children drown in Naogaon pond Quoting local people, Rajesh Kumar Chakraborty, officer-in-charge of Hazirhat Police Station, said Lithun and Abdullah were playing football near the bank of the river. At one stage, their football fell into the river and the two children drowned while they were trying to pick up the ball from the river. Read: Chattogram: Army cadet goes missing after 'drowning' Noticing the incident, local people recued them and took them to a local hospital where  doctors declared them dead. Drowning in Bangladesh Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under five in Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey(BHIS), in Bangladesh nearly 17,000 children drown annually, an average of around 46 each day. Read: Two teenagers drown in Dinajpur A cross-governmental taskforce was established on drowning prevention – led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with representation from 12 departments. The task force is working to prepare a ‘National Drowning Reduction Strategy’. According to the WHO’s latest estimates, drowning is the cause of 235,000 deaths every year. Many countries including Bangladesh report drowning as a leading cause of childhood mortality, particularly in children under-5.