Drowned kid: brother accused of a push
The Journal is alleging that the five-year-old who drowned in a back yard pool in Pierrefonds on the weekend may have been pushed in by his brother – but that the brother then tried to fish him out.
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Kate
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JaneyB 09:17 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
That poor kid. Siblings are normally pushing each other incessantly but what a terrible consequence that one time. How fast accidents can happen – the parents almost lost both of them in their own backyard.
Kate 10:04 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
Don’t think it was the kids of that family – the item suggests they were foster kids from another household. Which isn’t to say it won’t haunt the pool owners or others involved, like the neighbour who tried to save the kid.
Bert 16:33 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
Absolutely no security around the pool! Negligence? I think so.
Kate 21:00 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
There are laws about having a fence around a yard where an in-ground pool is, but if the family had admitted the kids to play, I don’t think any laws were broken. This time of year they may not even have thought of a half-empty pool as a hazard, but it doesn’t take much water to drown a five-year-old.
Bert 21:32 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
I will admit I am not a pool owner and even less an expert, but I am under the impression that pools need some sort of secondary protection. For above ground pools that means that removable stairs are required. i.e. the little-ones would have to grapple up the side of the pool. For in-ground pools this requires a dedicated fencing around the pool, separate from the back-yard fencing.
The photo shows the back of the house, with a patio-door, a set of stairs and the pool. A fencing around the pool is not visible.
Again, it may be a grandfathering issue, but strictly from the photo, the installation does not look safe.
steph 22:18 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
If the yard is fenced off from the public/street, that probably counts as dedicated fencing.
jeather 10:21 on 2019-04-25 Permalink
The secondary protection was made mandatory maybe 10 years ago and any places that already had an in-ground pool without a secondary fence were grandfathered in.