Six people, including two Filipinos, have been accused of negligence after a four-year-old boy drowned in a school swimming pool in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
The incident happened last November 14 during a swimming class that the child was attending. Internal inquiries revealed that the boy had left the pool area after a swimming lesson to change clothes in the locker room, Khaleej Times reported.
One of the assistants realized that he was missing and began searching for him. The assistant then found the boy had drowned in the pool, and started screaming. One of the accused came and pulled the boy out.
Two months after the incident, the school’s Emirati owner, plus five of the staff – an Arab physical education instructor, an Italian swimming instructor, an Australian teacher, a Filipino shadow teacher and another Filipino woman – were charged with negligence for not supervising the pool area.
The school’s owner faces charges of not having safety measures in the pool area, as well as leaving the pool unsupervised, without a barrier that prevents children from falling in and having doors to the pool without locks or safety precautions.
The boy’s father held the school fully responsible for his son’s death. He said that he had told the school that his son didn’t know how to swim.
The accused all have denied the charges brought against them.