Swimming pool demolished after five-year-old drowned
Manama : Southern Area Municipality yesterday demolished an abandoned swimming pool in Dar Kulaib village near Hamad Town, after a five-year-old boy drowned in it on Monday.
DT News visited the scene, where demolition cranes were seen destroying the pool and the nearby walls. The person in charge of the process told that the procedure has been instructed by the municipality, as the spot is violating the rules and regulations for private swimming pools.
“We began the demolition on Tuesday and excavated the water from the pool. Today we are burying the pool and the surrounding facilities,” the Asian foreman informed.
Mohammed, a resident of the nearby Government Housing Project, told DT News, “The pool has been abandoned for a couple of years because of a legal dispute between the landlord and the renter, both from the same family. The walls of the pool were demolished last year and the gates were left. Since, the residents and children of the area go swimming there, including myself and my children.”
A source in the Southern Governorate Municipal Council informed that “many remarks were raised in regards to this land”, stating that “the pool was utilised by groups of the youth for illegal and immoral activities”.
“Since the government housing project was established few years back, numerous complaints were received by the council regarding suspicious activities taking place in the pool. Removing it was a demand of the residents. The fence was removed almost a year back, but the pools were left uncovered. There are at least 16 deaths and injuries reported in swimming pools in the governorate in 2016. Most cases included children. This in addition to the detection of 80 pools that are violating the safety and security standards. Part of the blame is also on the parents who fail to supervise their children. The loss of this is painful to the parents and the entire society,” the source stated, adding that the matter of the pool was referred to Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry several times in the past few years.
As reported on DT News yesterday, Ali Jassim, 5, died in the swimming pool on Monday. He was rescued and rushed by ambulance to the Military Hospital in Riffa, where he was announced dead.
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