He jumped into deepest part of pool

He jumped into deepest part of pool

It was his first day in Singapore.

After watching his friends frolic in the water, the China national changed into his swim trunks and stood by the edge of Orchard Parade Hotel's 3m-deep pool.

Wu Jintang, 15, looked down, jumped into the deepest end - and disappeared. When his friends finally found him, it was too late.

The teen from Chongqing, China, and about 25 other students from a martial arts school in Henan arrived in Singapore on Feb 12 for a week-long school trip.

At the coroner's inquiry yesterday into Jintang's death, investigation officer Senior Staff Sergeant Wong Yasong said that at about 9pm after dinner, the trainers instructed the students to return to their hotel rooms and rest.

But Jintang and about 20 others sneaked to the swimming pool on the sixth storey.

There was no lifeguard on duty, said Senior Staff Sgt Wong, who also presented closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage.

In the video, some students were seen swimming at various parts of the pool while Jintang changed into his swimwear in the background.

At about 10pm, he went to the edge of the deepest part - 3m deep - of the pool with no other students nearby.

It was heard in court that there was no sign to indicate a deep pool but there was a sign warning swimmers that there were no lifeguards on duty.

Non-swimmer

The teenager did not know how to swim, said Senior Staff Sgt Wong.

After jumping in, he disappeared and did not surface again. The other students did not seem to notice what had happened.

It was close to 10 minutes later that one of them looked into the part of the pool where Jintang had jumped in. The student signalled for the others and they dragged Jintang's limp body out of the water.

They called for the hotel staff, who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Jintang. Senior Staff Sgt Wong also said an automated external defibrillator (AED) was used on him but to no effect.

Paramedics arrived at 10.20pm and Jintang was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital. By the time he was examined at the hospital, his body temperature was 33 deg C.

Jintang was pronounced dead at 11.10pm.

Since the incident, the hotel has put a lifeguard on duty during the pool's opening hours from 7am to 10pm, said Senior Staff Sgt Wong.

She added that the hotel will renovate and decrease the depth of the pool in September as well as install other safety features.

Police have ruled out foul play.

State Coroner Marvin Bay said this case is similar to that of another Chinese boy, Yao Junjie, 12, who drowned in Hotel Royal's swimming pool that same month. Mr Bay will present his findings for both cases on Aug 11.


This article was first published on July 22, 2015.
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