A week after a swimming accident during a swimming course in the Aschaffenburg district, a five-year-old died from his serious injuries. The criminal police and the public prosecutor’s office are now investigating negligent homicide, the police headquarters in Lower Franconia said on Saturday in Würzburg. Among other things, it is about the question of whether supervisory duties have been violated. Investigators did not give details.
The boy took part in a swimming course in the Haibach indoor pool on April 28th. According to the police, his head was underwater. Eyewitnesses took notice, rescued the child from the pool and alerted the emergency doctor. After initial treatment, the boy was reportedly taken to the hospital. The five-year-old, who came from the Aschaffenburg district, died on Friday evening.
It is still being determined why the child ended up under water. The police said they were trying to reconstruct what happened. Initially, it was determined because of negligent bodily harm.
Similar accidents shock again and again. At the end of 2021, a five-year-old was floating lifeless in the water in the exercise pool of an indoor swimming pool in Biberach near Ulm. Despite resuscitation measures, the child died, as the criminal police reported at the time.
However, the German Life Saving Society (DLRG) warned of more fatal swimming accidents. “The ability to swim has decreased drastically in recent years,” said the Bavarian DLRG President Manuel Friedrich of the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Saturday). “In the past three years, the number of children who are not confident swimmers by the end of elementary school has doubled.” This increases the risk of fatal swimming accidents.
Friedrich sees politics as responsible. Municipalities and the Free State neglected the public baths financially. Many swimming pools would be closed to save money. He warned: “Mayors must answer when the number of dead children increases.”
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