More Wacky Japanese Stuff

[ZenGum]

I shouldn't laugh, but I did.

Student drowns while testing concrete canoe

OSAKA -- A university student here died after a test on a concrete canoe in the Yodogawa River went disastrously awry on Sunday afternoon.

The body of Ken Kitamura, 19, was found by firefighters at the bottom of the river, about an hour after the canoe capsized. He was taken to hospital, but died shortly afterwards. Another student in the canoe managed to swim safely back to the bank.

Kitamura, a student at the Osaka Institute of Technology, built the canoe along with other members of the university's civil engineering culture research club.

Kitamura was not wearing a life jacket. Police are continuing to investigate.