14-year-old drowns in school’s swimming pool

A 14-year-old boy drowned while practicing in the swimming pool of a school in Goregaon, Mumbai. The boy was a student of Yashodham High School.

MUMBAI: A 14-year-old boy drowned in the swimming pool of a Goregaon school on Friday afternoon while he was practising there, police said. The boy, identified as Shardul Arolkar, was a student of Class 9 in the Yashodham High School in Goregaon East, where the incident occurred.

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For the past six months, Shardul was taking swimming lessons under a coach at the Gokuldham swimming pool and the courses were arranged by the Yashodham High school, his father has told the police. “His father, Sanjay got a call around 12.30 pm from his wife Snehalata that they were taking Shardul to Lifeline Hospital. When Sanjay reached the hospital he found his son was unconscious. Later, doctors asked them to take the boy to a government hospital. They rushed him to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali where he was declared dead on arrival,” said the officer from the Dindoshi police station.

The boy’s mother said that Shardul was in the pool with his trainer when he drowned, according to the police. When he was brought out, he vomited, after which he fell unconscious. That’s when the school authorities informed the family. “The father has demanded that action should be taken against the school authorities,” said a police officer.

“We are in the process of registering an accidental death report (ADR) in the matter,” said Jeevan Kharat, senior police inspector of Dindoshi police station. Police will carry out a detailed inquiry into the matter.

Shadul was a resident of Government Colony, Yogi Nagar in Borivali West. His father works at the Dindoshi court.

The school authorities did not respond to HT’s queries on the matter.