A six-year-old girl died in hospital on Tuesday after being unconscious for 20 days after a swimming mishap at Kallang Basin swimming complex in Singapore.
Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported that the girl was found unconscious and floating on the water during a swimming lesson on Dec 20 last year. The Singapore Civil Defence Force said that it was informed about "a case of drowning" at the swimming complex at about 7.20 pm.
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SCDF added that a female was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in an unconscious state. However, Channel NewsAsia reported that the girl was later moved to KK Women's and Children's Hospital, where she died.
According to reports, the incident took place while the coach was giving one-on-one guidance to a class of five students. Reportedly, the deceased was waiting for her turn in the pool, which was 0.9m deep.
Shin Min quoted the girl's grandmother as saying: "We are not trying to assign blame, but we want to know what went wrong."
"We also hope that her death serves as a reminder to others to be more alert and not to repeat this tragedy."
A spokesman for Sport Singapore (SportSG), which runs the complex, said in a statement that it was "saddened" by the death of the girl.
"We have been in touch with the child's family to render support where needed. Our thoughts are with them in this difficult time," the spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia. "We are assisting the authorities in their investigations," SportSG added.
Reports said that the authorities have temporarily suspended the licence of the girl's swimming instructor. He is currently not allowed to coach at public facilities.
