• Police investigations revealed that the girl was alone at the time of the incident
• The state coroner said the girl could have encountered difficulty when she was trying to float using her kickboard or slipped
• The girl had attended only three swimming lessons and was unable to keep herself afloat, the court heard
• There must always be an attentive adult present to warn children and prevent an unfortunate incident, the state coroner said

SINGAPORE — A state coroner has said that an attentive adult must always be present with young children at swimming pools, after pronouncing the death of a five-year-old girl at a condominium pool to be a "tragic misadventure".

Aurelia Liu Jiabao was found face-down at the bottom of the pool after her mother left the girl unattended for about 20 minutes to head home for a toilet break and prepare dinner. The girl had received three swimming lessons but was a “complete beginner” and could not swim, the court heard.

“Even the most compliant child is often given to curiosity. The young child also lacks the maturity to fully understand the dangers present,” State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam said after delivering her verdict on Monday (Oct 18).

“In the case of a swimming pool, a child may not appreciate how swiftly she may be overcome if she should inadvertently fall into the deep waters.”

She added: “There must always be an attentive adult present to warn (children) and prevent an unfortunate incident.”

The coroner noted that police investigations had revealed that the girl was alone at the time of the incident, and a forensic examination of the girl did not reveal any injuries which could have caused or contributed to her death.

“It was likely that she may have encountered difficulty when she was trying to float using her swimming board or had slipped off the narrow ledge of the swimming pool when she was walking along the edge,” she said.

“She must have panicked and begun gulping water before sinking to the bottom of the swimming pool. Her cause of death was determined to be drowning. In the circumstances, I find Aurelia’s death to be a tragic misadventure.”

The incident took place at around 6.20pm on Oct 8 last year at The Asana, a condominium on Queen’s Road in Bukit Timah where the family lived. The girl was eventually found submerged at the bottom of the swimming pool at 6.35pm.

She still had a pulse after the incident but was brain dead. Her parents, Mr Liu Minglei and Madam Lu Ying, decided to take her off life support three days later.

CCTV footage captured the mother walking away from the pool area towards a lift lobby at around 6.10pm. A minute later, a couple who was swimming then got out of the pool, walked across the platform and into a lift at the same lift lobby.

Now alone, Aurelia was seen walking along the edge of the swimming pool while holding her kickboard before she sat at the shallow edge of the pool, holding the swimming board as she lay on her stomach, attempting to float.

She then paced the pool before the CCTV captured small movements in the water at about 6.20pm. Eleven seconds later, the girl’s blue board was seen floating across the water, while some movements were seen in the water as the board floated further away.

Movements in the water subsided in the next five seconds.

MOTHER KNEW GIRL COULD NOT SWIM OR FLOAT

The coroner’s court had heard that Aurelia had taken only three swimming lessons prior to the incident, on Sept 24, Sept 28 and Oct 5 last year.

The girl’s swimming coach, Mr Chong Kor Fen, testified in the course of the hearings that the girl was a “complete beginner who could not swim or balance in water”. The three lessons, he said, were focused on teaching the girl how to float using a pool noodle — a cylindrical piece of foam used by learners.

Mr Chong recounted that during one of the lessons, the girl had expressed interest in using her blue kickboard and allowed her to try, but the attempt failed, so he advised her against using the board until she was able to float confidently.

He also stated his belief that Aurelia did not jump into the swimming pool that day, but instead lost her balance when attempting to use the board.

Mdm Lu testified that she was aware that the girl could not swim or float but had left her to play in the waddling area at the children’s water playground once before this incident while she went to the condo’s gym.

On the day of the incident, she had observed that an adult couple were present in the pool when she left the girl unsupervised, but had not asked them to keep an eye on Aurelia when she felt an urgent need to use the toilet and told the girl that she would be returning home.

She also recounted that it was the girl who had asked to go to the pool after she returned home from kindergarten that day. Mdm Lu had wanted to start preparing dinner but relented as she did not wish to disappoint the girl. And since she was home to use the toilet, she decided to reheat some soup for dinner, thinking that it would not take too long.

Mdm Lu returned to the pool area at 6.31pm and approached the security guard for help when she could not locate the girl. They discovered her submerged in the pool four minutes later.

After giving her findings, Ms Ponnampalam expressed her condolences to the girl’s family for their loss.