Swim instructors imprisoned for child pool death

Three swim instructors criminally charged in the drowning death of a 7-year-old child have been sentenced to prison.

The Incheon District Court on Tuesday handed down an eight-month prison term with two years of probation to the three instructors on charges of negligent manslaughter. Two supervising employees at the pool were also fined 6 million won ($5,400).

The victim drowned while swimming in the deep end of a pool in Incheon on June 16.

The three instructors at the pool were accused of failure to notice the drowning student in time to deliver necessary first aid treatment. One of the three instructors, who is also a certified lifeguard, reportedly did not deliver CPR to the victim upon discovery, but left the scene looking for help. The other two instructors were not at the lifeguard tower at the time of the incident, but were in a backroom from which the pool was not visible.

The two other pool employees were charged for failure to supervise the instructors properly, turning a blind eye to serious safety malfunctions at the pool.

(mjk625@heraldcorp.com)