A 5-year-old girl drowned to her death after being left alone at a condominium swimming pool by her mother for 20 minutes.
The incident happened on 8 October 2020 and a coroner’s inquest was called last Friday (7 May).
The sequence of events were recounted.
The girl was taken to the swimming pool at around 6.10pm and drowned to her death after her mother left her unattended for 20 minutes, to go home to use the toilet.
The mother also spent some time at home preparing dinner for the family, during which the girl spent the entirety of the duration alone at the swimming pool.
The mother then returned to the swimming pool at around 6.30pm and realised her daughter was missing.
She then circled the pool a few times before seeking the help of the condo’s security officers.
The officer spotted the girl lying face down and motionless in the pool, before retrieving her and placing her on the deck, wh ile a resident performed CPR on her.
The girl was then sent to the hospital unconscious.
She never regained consciousness and after three days, the decision to take her off life support was made by the parents.
Girl only attended 3 swimming classes
Based on investigations, the girl only attended 3 swimming classes prior to her drowning, and she didn’t know how to keep herself afloat.
The swimming pool was 1.3m deep but the girl was only 1.06m tall.
The girl could be seen in CCTV footages walking along the side of the pool, from the main pool to the jacuzzi area, and then back again.
At about 6.20pm, 10 minutes after her mother left, sudden ripples were seen on the surface of the water as a blue colored kickboard was seen floating away.
It was deduced that the girl had fallen in.
Father raised questions on coroner’s report
The father then reportedly raised questions on the coroner’s report, saying that a Caucasian man was spotted walking towards his apartment shortly after the kickboard was seen floating away.
The father asked whether the man was interrogated for his involvement in the case, suspecting that someone might have pushed his daughter into the pool.
The investigation officer of the case said that the man was already interrogated, and he had explained that he entered from the back gate of the condo and headed to his apartment.
The man claims to have not seen the girl not the board.
At the time of writing, the case is still under investigation and the coroner’s verdict on the girl’s death has been postponed to a further date.
Image source: Carousell property listing