7-yr-old drowns in swimming pool, parents allege ‘negligence’ by staff in Ahmedabad

A 7-year-old boy reportedly drowned in a swimming pool at a private club in Ahmedabad Sunday evening. His parents lodged an FIR on Tuesday, alleging that it was the negligence of the club staff, including the coach, that caused the death of their only child. Toral Patel, who lodged an FIR with the Ghatlodia police station with her husband Jignesh, has alleged that her son Vansh was learning swimming at “Sun & Step club” for the past two weeks.

“On Sunday evening, I saw Vansh drowning in the pool. Immediately, I and swimming coach Amar Upadhyay rushed to him. We brought him out of water. After the incident, they didn’t help me. Instead, they asked to take him to the hospital on my own,” Toral has described in the FIR. Vansh was studying in first grade at Nutan Vidhya Vihar at Ghatlodia. His mother said that he was a bright student.

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“They (club staff) did nothing apart from taking him out of the water. I and my husband’s friend took him to the hospital on a two-wheeler,” she has said in the FIR. Initially, Vansh was taken to a private hospital from where he was rushed to another private hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Assistant sub-inspector Kamlesh Menmat, who is investigating the case, said “A complaint of accidental death has been filed and the post-mortem report is pending to determine the actual reason behind the death.”

Tarun Shah, manager of the club, said, “The boy didn’t die because of drowning. He was not feeling well in the water where he vomited also. There might be some other reason behind his death.” He added, “We take all safety measures in our club. Vansh was also wearing flotation devices during the incident.”

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