Police are investigating a golf course in Kani, Gifu Prefecture, where two boys drowned in a pond earlier this week, and nearby residents say there was a hole in the facility's fence, raising suspicions that its operator was lax about safety.
Ryuto Yonezawa and Riku Okazaki, who were in the second grade at Joto Elementary School in the neighboring city of Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, apparently entered the Nagoya Hills Golf Club in Kani after it closed for the day on Tuesday.
According to police sources, the boys entered the club together with another friend, a 7-year-old in the first grade at the public elementary school.