Tel Aviv water park's director, lifeguard arrested over boy's death
Both are accused of causing death by negligence; 11-year-old drowned after riding on of the park's waterslides.
By Roni Singer-Heruti Tags: Tel AvivPolice arrested the director of Tel Aviv's Meimadion water park on Wednesday, on suspicion of causing a death by negligence after an eleven-year-old boy drowned at the park earlier in the day.
The lifeguard on duty at the time was also arrested on suspicion of causing death by negligence. Police will seek a remand extension Thursday for both the director, a 45-year-old Rosh Ha'ayin resident, and the lifeguard, a 20-year-old Ramat Gan resident.
The boy, a resident of Jaser A-Zarka, drowned at approximately 1:30 P.M, after sliding into the pool at the foot of the waterslide.
Medics treated the boy on site. He was pronounced in critical condition when he was drawn from the water. Efforts to resuscitate the boy continued while he was rushed to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Dan District police, together with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, are investigating the possibility of negligence in the incident, probing the conduct of lifeguards on the scene.
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How about the responsibility of the parents? We planed a tour to excactly this park. And I took it lighlty and thought I could take some kids to take care of. Now I am afraid. I am irresponsible.
Our children shoudl not mix with the infidel children and put themselves at risk
Had the life guards been doing their jobs properly this tragic accident could have been avoided. There should have been a guard at the bottom of the slide as well as someone on top. I hope the boy's family sues the park for neglience, beacuse it is apparent to me atleast that the life guard wasn't doing his/her job properly!
Pool life guards are paid minimum wage for an important job, they usually are not rotated enough to help keep them alert in a job that can and should be quite boring. They work under very hard conditions under the sun with crowded uncooperative crowds. These workers are not organized and do not strike like the sea lifeguards and no one is interested in organizing them unfortunately. Most likely the management company will try to scapegoat the lifeguard
It would be interesting to know how many people were in the park at the time. Just how crowded are these water parks ? Like wise - could the boy swim ? In a park where people are not all scrambling all over each other because of the incredible number of people in the water maybe someone would have seen the boy sooner. But unfortunately when there are soooo many kids in the park, the equipment and rules not upheld well, and lines that take for ages, kids that push in, and general undermanagement tragedies like these are not surprising. Maybe less profits would make for safer fun. Poor kid...and poor parents.
Lifeguards ... the first one to go on strike and complain, but they shouldn't forget sometimes to do a real job....