11-year-old girl drowns in Sharjah swimming pool

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11-year-old girl drowns in Sharjah swimming pool

Sharjah - The deceased was not accompanied by an adult from the family, and there was no lifeguard stationed at the pool.

By Afkar Abdulla

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Published: Sun 25 Oct 2015, 1:58 PM

Last updated: Tue 19 Jan 2016, 9:24 AM

Tragedy struck a Cameroonian expatriate family in Sharjah after their 11-year-old drowned in a swimming pool in a building in Al Nahda on Saturday.

The deceased was not accompanied by an adult from the family, as the mother was at work. There were no lifeguard at the residential swimming pool.

The girl was swimming with children who informed the security guard and the watchman, who notified the police. The team of rescue units, ambulance, CID and police patrol arrived in the area and found the girl motionless, and tried to conduct CPR but in vain. They rushed the girl to Al Kuwaiti Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The police of Al Buhairah station has launched an investigation.

Talking to concerned authorities about the lack of safety measures at the swimming pool, the municipality official said that swimming pools in residential buildings are inspected when tenants complain to the municipality.

He added that inspectors were sent to check whether the owner of the particular pool was doing regular maintenance work, and whether he had provided proper equipment and employed full-time qualified lifeguards at the facilities.

Municipal inspectors conduct regular visits to the hotels, clubs and public swimming pools to ensure they abide by the safety regulations. Owners of residential buildings in Sharjah need to obtain a special license from the Technical Affairs Department for building swimming pools in? their buildings. The department stipulates that the children's swimming pool should be separate from that of the adults, and should have full protection and rescue equipment to prevent children?from drowning.

The official said that Dh5,000 fine will be imposed on residential buildings, clubs, hotels and villas that do not comply with safety and health regulations for pools.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com


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