News

Negligence blamed for drownings

September 17, 2020 6:33 am

Negligence has been blamed for the recent spate of drownings in Fiji.

Negligence has been blamed for the recent spate of drownings in Fiji.

Five people drowned in just two weeks with the youngest being a three-year-old and the oldest nineteen.

Most of these tragedies happened while the victims were swimming with family and friends.

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Fiji Swimming Operations Manager Trisa Dunn says in many cases children are often left unsupervised.

“Would be on negligence from parents, guardians. With the pool incident, that too as well. We ought to ask facilities on their pool attendance of their lifeguards and the qualifications that they have as well. But more importantly, the step by step process on what you do to save a person.”

Dunn has also revealed that Fiji does not have any qualified lifeguards.

“I would suggest that the facility owners or the stakeholders, in this case, would look into professional development of their pool staff and up-skilling them.”

Fiji Swimming suggests classes should be made available for the young and old.

The drowning toll stands at twenty-eight compared to twenty-four for the same period last year.