In the third such tragic incident of its kind within a week, two brothers drowned Monday night in a pond in a valley in the Kingdom’s south.

What is more heart-wrenching is that the brothers, aged 19 and 17, breathed their last clutching each other.

Giving details of the incident, a Civil Defense spokesman said: “The younger of the two wanted to swim in the water, but once he got into the pond, he panicked and cried for help. His brother jumped in to rescue him, but couldn’t succeed. They both died hugging each other.”

The family contacted the Civil Defense on Monday evening, stating that the two brothers had left for the nearby valley at 3 p.m. but they never returned.

The Civil Defense spokesman said: “Investigators found that the two brothers were in the valley. A team of divers searched the pond and found the bodies of the two brothers. The team had to carry the bodies on foot for 2 km since the terrain was rugged and no vehicle could reach the spot.”

He said the elder brother may have known how to swim, but was not adept at rescuing. “Another reason for the tragedy is that he jumped into the water fully dressed, and he had some stuff in his pockets,” he said.

This is the second incident in Baha region. Last week, four girls were stuck in a pond for quite some time. While three of them were rescued, the fourth died of drowning. In eastern Riyadh, six girls from three families drowned while they were on a lakeside picnic, sending shockwaves throughout the Kingdom.