Hanoi  - Seven people are missing and presumed dead after a small boat sank in southern Vietnam, state media reported Thursday.

The newspaper Tuoi Tre reported the boat capsized Wednesday on a river in the Nhon Trach district of Dong Nai province. Six members of a family and the boat's driver were missing.

The family had reportedly hired Truong Tho to take them to see a plot of land on the far side of the river which they were planning to buy.

Also Wednesday, four schoolchildren drowned at Ky Khang Beach in central Ha Tinh province.

Nguyen Quoc Anh, head of the local education department, said the children were swept away by waves while swimming. Their bodies were discovered by rescuers later Wednesday. (dpa)