Hyderabad: 15-year-old boy without lifeguard drowns in pool

HYDERABAD: A 15-year-old boy, who was learning swimming, drowned in a swimming pool at Shivarampally in Rajendranagar on Friday evening. There was no lifeguard at the time of the incident when the victim, Mohammed Khaja, after a swim with his friends, stayed back for another round of swimming. A case was booked against A-Z Swimming Pool on Saturday.

Khaja, a madrasa student from Dairy Farm area, went for a swim along with four of his friends. "While the others left the pool to take a shower, Khaja was in the water alone as he wanted to spend some more time. He swam towards the deeper end of the pool where the depth was 7 ft which turned fatal," said Rajendranagar sub-inspector K Rajeswar Reddy. Police suspect Khaja drowned between 7pm and 7.30pm. There was nobody present near the pool at that time.

Police went through the CCTV footage near the pool which showed Khaja making desperate attempts to swim. Police said the lifeguard had left around 5.30pm, leaving the boys to fend for themselves. "Khaja did not know how to swim when he moved towards the deeper end of the pool. Surprisingly, there was no lifeguard or a trainer at the pool to keep an eye on the boys," said a police officer.

Family members lambasted the swimming pool management for failing to provide safety measures at the pool. "There were no lifeguards. Why did they allow the boys into the pool if there were no lifeguards?" a relative of the boy complained.

The body was later shifted to Osmania General Hospital (OGH) for an autopsy. Police registered a case under Section 304-A(causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against A-Z pool and launched a probe.