TT boy dies in Guyana hotel pool mishap

GEORGETOWN: A 15-YEAR-OLD Trinidadian boy died Friday following a swimming pool mishap at the Ocean View International Hotel in Liliendaal, Guyana. Emmanuel Williams, who was part of a church group visiting Guyana, died shortly after he was rescued from the  hotel swimming pool. The group, which was staying at the  hotel, was reported to be in Guyana on vacation. However, no member of the  group or any of Williams’ relatives was willing to speak about the tragedy. According to an unconfirmed report, Williams had gone into the pool to retrieve a bottle opener that fell into the water. By the time he was pulled out of the pool, he was bleeding. An attempt was made to resuscitate him using CPR.

It was unclear whether there was a lifeguard on duty at the time of the incident.  Hotel staff said they summoned an ambulance but it never arrived. As a result, a member of the staff volunteered her vehicle to transport Williams to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. It is unclear whether Williams died during the trip to the  hospital or at the institution. A post-mortem is to be held to determine the cause of death even as arrangements were being made to have the body returned to Trinidad. Hours after the incident hotel staff were still huddled near the lobby area talking about the incident. While this went on,  not too far off members of the visiting group were holding a religious service.

There have been a number of drowning-related deaths at hotels and resorts in Guyana in recent years. However, this latest incident comes while resorts are under scrutiny for their safety and emergency responses. A report last year by a Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) investigating committee revealed that a large majority of resorts have no emergency response safety  equipment, which proved to be a big cause for concern as most of them are located at least 15 to 20 minutes away from the nearest primary health care facility.