Three junior high school boys were declared dead from drowning Monday after being pulled from the Kiso River in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, police and firefighters said.

The three students were declared dead after being transported to a hospital following a call for an ambulance at around 1:30 p.m.

While seven students were playing on a sandbank, one got caught in the current and others tried to help him, according to the police.

The water level was normal on the river, which is roughly 300 meters wide at the site of the accident, according to the government office in charge of river management. The current there can be treacherous and some spots are up to 3 to 4 meters deep, the office said.