Two amateur swimmers who participated in a national open water swimming event off the southern coast of South Jeolla Province died during the event, police said.

The Yeosu Coast Guard confirmed Sunday that a 64-year-old man surnamed Kang and a 44-year-old woman surnamed Cho were found dead while participating in a 1-kilometer swim hosted by the Yeosu Swimming League on the same day. 

After passing the halfway point, Kang passed out, and Cho followed suit five minutes later, according to police. The two were rescued from the water by other participants and sent to a nearby hospital.

The host organizer came under fire for lack of safety measures as they had only one ambulance ready. Cho had to wait for the first patient Kang to be transported to the hospital. They both were pronounced dead on the same day.

According to participants, the meet also began without proper warm-up exercises.

“We did not have proper warm-up exercises before the race began,” a participant said to The Korea Herald. “An organizer did mention it regarding warming up, but it wasn’t official or anything so who would care?”

Kang’s family members said the organizer was to blame for his death.

“My father was a head of an amateur swimming club and had been competing in numerous swimming meets,” said the second son of Kang in despair. “Things all went wrong when the organization suddenly advanced the competition without any announcement beforehand, so my father had to rush into the water, unprepared.”

Before the incident, Kang enjoyed indoor swimming as a hobby and had completed 2-kilometer and 3-kilimeter water courses before participating in the tragic event, family members said.

Police have started a probe into the deadly accident to investigate whether there were any lacking safety measures.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)