Visiting man drowns in Dubai hotel pool

Visiting man drowns in Dubai hotel pool

Police take statements of gym instructor, manager and other employees

• By Bobby Naqvi Editor, XPRESS
• Published: 00:00 November 20, 2011
• source:

Dubai: Police are investigating the death of a visitor who drowned in a hotel swimming pool in Bur Dubai on Friday evening, Gulf News has learnt.

The incident happened around 6:50pm at the open- air pool of the Oasis Court Hotel Apartments, a popular spot among families in the old Pakistani consulate area in Bur Dubai.

The victim, an Afghan man in his late 30s, checked into the hotel along with two other Afghans on Thursday and were expected to stay until today, a hotel employee said. The group stayed in room number 245.

Shehab Lotfi, a manager with the hotel told Gulf News: "We are carrying our own investigations, our lifeguard is with the police and we are very sorry for the victim's family."

An Indian gym instructor at the hotel's health club told the police that the three Afghans came to the pool area at around 6:45pm and were lounging near the pool.

According to the hotel staff, the lifeguard had left for the day at 6.30pm.

Minutes later, one of the three Afghans called the attention of the gym instructor who was inside the health club.

Nothing is visible from the health club after dark as its windows are tinted. "I came out and saw this man floating under water [sic] and was motionless at the deep end of the pool. I pulled him out with a stick and immediately called the gym manager," the instructor told the police.

Minutes later, three police cars and an ambulance arrived on the scene. Paramedics were seen trying to revive the victim and pumping out water from his body, an eyewitness said.

"The man had apparently taken in a lot of water and his body was cold," an Indian health club member said. Witnesses said paramedics placed the victim on a stretcher and rushed him to a waiting ambulance as his companions followed.

The swimming pool is 19 metres long with a deep end of 2.5 metres.

No CCTV camera

The hotel staff said there was no closed-circuit TV camera in the pool area.

The open-air pool and the health club are located on the ground floor and the hotel room balconies face the pool.

Some guests were seen on the balconies as they watched police and a three-member forensic team investigate the accident scene. The police took statements of the gym instructor, his manager and other hotel employees.

— With additional inputs from Dina Aboul Hosn, Staff Reporter