Lifeguards get sentence reduced over drowning at pool in Dubai
source:
7DAYS
June 8, 2014
Two lifeguards convicted over the drowning of a man in a swimming pool in Dubai have had their sentences reduced.
The Filipinos were on duty when the victim died at Al Mamzar Beach Park in August 2012.
They were found guilty of wrongly causing the death of the Indian man. They were jailed by Dubai Misdemeanours Court for two months, suspended.
That sentence has now been cut to a month suspended by Dubai Appeal Court and the men were ordered to pay Dhs200,000 blood money.
Prosecutors said the lifeguards were responsible for the safety of swimmers at the three pools at the park on the day the man drowned.
According to official records, the deceased went to the park with his 42-year-old brother in the early evening. The brother said he was playing with his children when he noticed his sibling was missing.
“I saw some people gathered beside the swimming pool and saw my brother unconscious and the two lifeguards giving him CPR,” the man said. “An ambulance transferred my brother to Rashid Hospital, but they pronounced him dead.”
The brother told police that his sibling did not know how to swim. The pool in which he drowned was 4m deep, the court heard.
One of the lifeguards, 43, testified that the three pools had been very busy with about 400 people.
“There were too many people in the area and it was hard for me to monitor all the swimmers,” he said. “I asked the supervisor to prevent more people from entering the pools, but he didn’t care. Usually the pools only can handle 200 people.”
The lifeguards also said an image of a dolphin on the bottom of the pool, prevented them from seeing the body.
ali.shouk@7days.ae
They were found guilty of wrongly causing the death of the Indian man. They were jailed by Dubai Misdemeanours Court for two months, suspended.
That sentence has now been cut to a month suspended by Dubai Appeal Court and the men were ordered to pay Dhs200,000 blood money.
Prosecutors said the lifeguards were responsible for the safety of swimmers at the three pools at the park on the day the man drowned.
According to official records, the deceased went to the park with his 42-year-old brother in the early evening. The brother said he was playing with his children when he noticed his sibling was missing.
“I saw some people gathered beside the swimming pool and saw my brother unconscious and the two lifeguards giving him CPR,” the man said. “An ambulance transferred my brother to Rashid Hospital, but they pronounced him dead.”
The brother told police that his sibling did not know how to swim. The pool in which he drowned was 4m deep, the court heard.
One of the lifeguards, 43, testified that the three pools had been very busy with about 400 people.
“There were too many people in the area and it was hard for me to monitor all the swimmers,” he said. “I asked the supervisor to prevent more people from entering the pools, but he didn’t care. Usually the pools only can handle 200 people.”
The lifeguards also said an image of a dolphin on the bottom of the pool, prevented them from seeing the body.
ali.shouk@7days.ae
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