A court in China’s Guangxi region has ordered the operator of a residential swimming pool to pay more than 860,000 yuan (approximately RM510,000) in compensation after a four-year-old girl drowned while a substitute lifeguard without a licence was on duty.
The victim, identified by the pseudonym Xiaoying, was found unconscious after remaining underwater for six minutes and five seconds. She was rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead.
According to local reports, the girl’s mother had briefly returned home to prepare a meal and asked the child’s uncle to watch over her at the pool.
Investigators found that the uncle had been focused on his mobile phone throughout the incident and failed to notice the child entering the water.
The tragedy was made more shocking by the fact that the girl drowned just one metre from Lifeguard Station No. 1. However, the person assigned to that station was reportedly an unlicensed substitute who failed to notice the emergency until other swimmers spotted the child after she had sunk beneath the water.
Authorities found that although the swimming pool was required to have three lifeguard stations, only two licensed lifeguards were on duty that day. The licensed lifeguard assigned to Station No. 1 had taken leave, and management allegedly replaced the position with an unqualified substitute.
Investigators also found that the child, who was too short for the depth of the water, had entered the deep pool without wearing any flotation or life-saving equipment.
Following the incident, the girl’s family filed a lawsuit seeking more than 1.08 million yuan (approximately RM640,000) in damages.
The court ruled that the swimming pool operator bore 80% of the responsibility for failing to provide an adequate number of qualified lifeguards and ordered it to pay more than 860,000 yuan (around RM510,000) in compensation.
The remaining 20% of the liability was attributed to the child’s guardians for failing to properly supervise her.
