Man drowns, friend in hospital after condo swim.
By JULYN KANG.
363 words
29 February 2000
Straits Times
English
AN 18-YEAR-OLD youth drowned and his 21-year-old friend is now unconscious in hospital after they went for a swim at a condominium pool on Sunday evening.
Police said that the victim, Mr Lee Poh Poh, was an unemployed Malaysian who was living with his godfather at
Balmeg Court, off Pasir Panjang Road.
It was learnt that the unconscious woman, Ms Teow Lay Khuen, is from Mr Lee's hometown of Teluk Intan in Perak.
Police said Mr Lee had invited her and another unidentified woman to join him for a swim in the pool at about 6 pm on Sunday. The three of them had been in the water for a while before they drifted to the deep end of the pool, which has a depth of 2.1 m.
Suddenly, they ran into difficulties and started struggling in the water.
One of the women managed to swim to the edge of the pool and climb out safely.
She told the police that when she turned around to look for her friends, she saw that Mr Lee was still struggling but the other woman was already motionless.
She grabbed two life buoys and threw them towards her friends but to no avail. Mr Lee could not get a grip on the buoy and sank.
Seeing him go under, she started to scream for help and this attracted the attention of another woman - an unidentified resident of the condominium.
This resident managed to pull both of them, already unconscious, out of the pool and apply cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Police said Ms Teow responded to the CPR, and was taken together with Mr Lee in an ambulance to the National University Hospital. Mr Lee died there at about 9.20 pm and Ms Teow was warded in the intensive care unit. She has not regained consciousness and it is understood that her condition is critical.
Mr Lee's godfather declined to be interviewed when approached at the condominium yesterday. Police are appealing for eyewitnesses to contact the Clementi Police Division on 774-0000.