Two amateur rugby players who have died on tour in Sri Lanka following a nightclub visit have been described as “fun-loving young men you’d be proud to call a son”.

In a statement on Tuesday, Durham City Rugby Football Club announced “with great sadness” the death of 26-year-old Tom Baty on Tuesday afternoon. It followed the death of his teammate Thomas Howard, 25, after the pair were both admitted to hospital in the city of Colombo on Sunday due to breathing difficulties.

Thomas Howard. Photograph: Durham City Rugby Football Club/PA

The players, both from Durham, were on tour with one of the club’s teams, the Clems Pirates. According to police in Sri Lanka, some British players went to a nightclub after the match and returned to their hotel in the early hours of Sunday.

David Wilkinson, Durham City RFC president, told the Guardian he had known both men since they joined the club as children. They were firm friends who had gone into business together after graduation, he said, describing them as “entrepreneurial people”.

He said the club had no idea what had happened but he hoped that autopsies would reveal what happened “because it’s quite clearly something they’ve both been subject to”.

The circumstances leading up to the men having breathing difficulties was unclear, though there is no suggestion at present that they were attacked, he said. “There are no official suggestions of anything and since the boys were unconscious when they were found in their beds, nobody has had the ability to ask them what went on in the latter part of the evening.”

Wilkinson said he understood the men who died may have stayed out later together than the rest of the group. Baty’s parents flew out to be with him on Sunday and were with him for the last 48 hours of his life, he said. He described the men as “two fun-loving rugby players with girlfriends, lots of friends, very popular people. They both worked the club bar in their student days.”

They were both sociable, said Wilkinson: “They both would partake in the party but no more than anyone else. They were part of a very popular social scene and they were decent young people going about their lives.”

Howard was Durham RFC’s second team club captain last year and Baty was a talented first team player, Wilkinson said. Both had risen up the ranks from the juniors and had been on numerous overseas rugby tours together. “They were both young men you’d be proud to call your son,” he added.

On Tuesday afternoon the club decided to go ahead with planned charity work “as a mark of respect”. In a statement it said it would distribute rugby kit in Galle, a city on Sri Lanka’s south-west coast, as planned.

The club requested that the privacy of their families be “respected and upheld at this difficult time”. A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said it was assisting families of two British men.

Friends and team mates paid tribute on social media on Tuesday. David Gibson wrote: “So sad to hear that Baty has also lost his life today after Howie lost his life yesterday. Amazing lads, honoured I got to share the field and a few beers with them both RIP My condolences are with both their families, all at @DurhamCityRFC all of their other friends.”

Kenny Reader described Baty and Howard as “great blokes who lived for these tours”.