Noida: 9-year-old boy, who got stuck in swimming pool vent, dies

Mangalore Today News Network

Noida, July 09, 2016: A 9-year-old boy who got stuck in the suction vent of his residential society’s swimming pool in Noida sector 78 for several minutes on June 29 died in a Delhi hospital Thursday night.

Aditya Wardhan’s body was brought to Mahagun Moderne society around 3 pm Friday before being taken for cremation. Several distraught residents of the society kept consoling his mother, who kept fainting. Aditya’s grandmother sat in a corner, stone-faced. He had been on ventilator support at Gangaram Hospital since June 30.

Residents of the society said Aditya, who studied in Class IV in Fr Agnel School, Noida, dropped a ball in the pool close to an open suction vent by mistake and dived in to get it back. However, his hand got sucked in and he could not move. The residents claimed the boy was trapped underwater for about 10 minutes before being pulled out by lifeguards.

According to some of the residents, Aditya had gone to the swimming pool with some of his friends around 7 pm — around the time when the pool is shut down — on June 29. There were no lifeguards near the pool at the time and nobody noticed Aditya till about five minutes after the incident, when some of his friends alerted the lifeguards, said the residents. The lifeguards took another five minutes to rescue Aditya, alleged the residents.

Aditya, who was unconscious, was administered CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) by a doctor who lives in the society and rushed to Neo Hospital in Noida and then to Fortis Hospital. He was shifted to Gangaram Hospital the next day through a green corridor.

Aditya lived with his parents, Pallavi Wardhan and Anand Wardhan, and elder brother Ayush (15) in Maltova Towers ofthe society. Pallavi Wardhan is a teacher in Sapphire International School and Anand Wardhan works with Tata Consultancy Services. Ayush is a Class XI student of Fr Agnel School, Noida.

Furious residents blamed the builder for “gross negligence”. “We demand a time-bound inquiry and the culprit must be charged with attempt to murder. This kind of negligence is equal to attempt to murder. We have been reminding the builder since the last one year about basic safety measures. Looks like we paid crores of rupees to put our lives in danger. Till how long can the builder and authority take us for granted?” said Shishir Tiwari, a resident of the society.

Arun Goyal, another resident, questioned why the swimming pool’s suction vent was not closed. “It’s a kids’ pool and if there was a suction vent, there should have been a net which covers its opening. The child’s hand got sucked in because it was open,” he said.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said the incident was “gross negligence by the builder”.