SINGAPORE: A teenager from China who was found to have drowned in a Orchard hotel swimming pool in February did so after sneaking out of his hotel room with other students in a trip, the Coroner's Court heard on Tuesday (Jul 21).
Wu Jintang, 15, arrived in Singapore on Feb 12 on a cultural exchange trip with 26 other students and two trainers from the Shaolin Wushu Wenhu School at the time.
Investigation officer Senior Staff Sergeant Wong Yasong told the court that after a brieifing by trainers on the next day's itinerary, the students were to stay in their rooms at the Orchard Parade Hotel at night.
However, Wu sneaked out with several other students sometime after 9pm to go to the swimming pool at the sixth floor of the hotel. Closed-circuit television footage showed most of the students standing in the shallow end of the pool which was 1.2 metres-deep.
After changing into swimming trunks, Wu - who did not know how to swim - jumped into the deepest part of the pool which was 3 metres-deep. Brief ripples were seen afterwards, but Wu never surfaced and no lifeguard was present.
Wu's friends did not realise he had gone missing until 10 minutes later, when a fellow student brought him up from the pool bed. He was unconscious and as the students did not know how to administer cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), hotel staff were alerted. While waiting for paramedics, hotel staff performed CPR on Wu but were unsuccessful in reviving him.
Paramedics arrived at the scene within 10 minutes, at about 10.20pm and administered the use of an automated external defibrillator. Wu was sent to the KK Women's and Children's Hospital with zero pulse rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure. He was pronounced dead at 11.10pm.
A post-mortem confirmed the cause of death as drowning. No foul play was suspected.
Wu was also found to not have been suffering from any medical complications prior to the incident.
The court was told that there were signs indicating various depths of the pool at the side and that the pool slopes gradually. A line was hung across the pool separating the shallow end from the deeper side. Following the incident, the hotel has placed a lifeguard on duty at the pool from 7am to 10pm, with a security guard taking over after. A life-saving pole and hook have also been installed at the side of the pool.
Wu's father and the People's Republic of China embassy were notified of the Coroner's Court hearing but representatives were not present.
In a separate incident, a 12-year-old China national drowned on the same day Wu did at Hotel Royal in Newton. The boy who was in Singapore for a summer camp with other students, was found to have drowned at a part of the pool where the pool bed dropped to a deeper depth.
The case has been adjourned to Aug 11 in the Coroner's Court.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/china-teen-who-drowned-in/1998118.html?cid=FBsg
Wu Jintang, 15, arrived in Singapore on Feb 12 on a cultural exchange trip with 26 other students and two trainers from the Shaolin Wushu Wenhu School at the time.
Investigation officer Senior Staff Sergeant Wong Yasong told the court that after a brieifing by trainers on the next day's itinerary, the students were to stay in their rooms at the Orchard Parade Hotel at night.
However, Wu sneaked out with several other students sometime after 9pm to go to the swimming pool at the sixth floor of the hotel. Closed-circuit television footage showed most of the students standing in the shallow end of the pool which was 1.2 metres-deep.
After changing into swimming trunks, Wu - who did not know how to swim - jumped into the deepest part of the pool which was 3 metres-deep. Brief ripples were seen afterwards, but Wu never surfaced and no lifeguard was present.
Wu's friends did not realise he had gone missing until 10 minutes later, when a fellow student brought him up from the pool bed. He was unconscious and as the students did not know how to administer cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), hotel staff were alerted. While waiting for paramedics, hotel staff performed CPR on Wu but were unsuccessful in reviving him.
Paramedics arrived at the scene within 10 minutes, at about 10.20pm and administered the use of an automated external defibrillator. Wu was sent to the KK Women's and Children's Hospital with zero pulse rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure. He was pronounced dead at 11.10pm.
A post-mortem confirmed the cause of death as drowning. No foul play was suspected.
Wu was also found to not have been suffering from any medical complications prior to the incident.
The court was told that there were signs indicating various depths of the pool at the side and that the pool slopes gradually. A line was hung across the pool separating the shallow end from the deeper side. Following the incident, the hotel has placed a lifeguard on duty at the pool from 7am to 10pm, with a security guard taking over after. A life-saving pole and hook have also been installed at the side of the pool.
Wu's father and the People's Republic of China embassy were notified of the Coroner's Court hearing but representatives were not present.
In a separate incident, a 12-year-old China national drowned on the same day Wu did at Hotel Royal in Newton. The boy who was in Singapore for a summer camp with other students, was found to have drowned at a part of the pool where the pool bed dropped to a deeper depth.
The case has been adjourned to Aug 11 in the Coroner's Court.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/china-teen-who-drowned-in/1998118.html?cid=FBsg
