Dad in China dies after breaking neck while showing 7-year-old daughter how to dive into 1.1m-deep pool

What was meant to be a swimming lesson ended in tragedy after a father dived headfirst into a 1.1m-deep pool and died after breaking his neck.

The incident occurred at a gymnasium in Ningbo, China, on Oct 18, reported Taiwanese media ET Today.

A 47-second video of the incident, uploaded on Oct 24 to Chinese social media platform Weibo, shows CCTV footage of the pool with the father and daughter duo.

The seven-year-old daughter is seen in the water, looking towards her father who is showing her how to dive into the pool.

The father, a 36-year-old man surnamed Hu, is seen diving headfirst into the pool, appearing to hit his head on the floor of the pool.

His legs are seen buckling backwards before he subsequently floats to the surface and turns limp.

Hu reportedly fractured his cervical vertebrae upon hitting the floor, said ET Today.

After witnessing the incident, Hu's daughter is seen immediately swimming towards him and attempting to pull him out of the water.

A screenshot included in the Weibo post showed messages from a user surnamed Zou (transliteration), claiming to be Hu's cousin.

Zou alleged that lifeguards at the gymnasium did not react to the incident immediately and rescued Hu only about 15 minutes later.

According to internal investigations, there were three lifeguards on duty at the time.

One of the lifeguards reportedly went to check on Hu after witnessing the incident, but assumed that he purposely did not respond as he was playing with his daughter.

Hu was eventually sent to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries after five days, reported ET Today.

His family is planning to sue the gymnasium, but the management claims that Hu did not pay attention to the safety warnings at the pool which cautioned against diving.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com