The Public Prosecution has stated that the death of the student who drowned in the school’s swimming pool was accidental but the father of the student has the right to sue the school for negligence, Al-Madina newspaper reported on Saturday.

The prosecution conducted an investigation into the incident at a primary school on Prince Majed Road in Jeddah. The surveillance footage of the incident showed that the student was in the swimming pool when he drowned and that the swimming instructor was not close by to save him. No one had pushed the student into the pool, it said.

Sami Al-Harbi said he received the body of his son from the forensics department for burial.

“What happened to my son is the result of the school’s blatant negligence. How could children that young be left next to a swimming pool without any supervision. The school had surveillance cameras installed and were able to tape the entire incident. The tapes do not show anyone rushing in to save my son. This degree of negligence is unacceptable and I will sue the school so no other parent goes through what I had gone through,” said Al-Harbi.

A worker at the school confirmed that the incident was merely an accident and denied the father’s allegations that the school was negligent.

A large crowd of people attended the student’s burial on Thursday in Al-Faysaliyah Cemetery in Jeddah.

Makkah Civil Defense spokesman Col. Saeed Al-Ghamdi said the Civil Defense was not connected to the incident in any way as no one had reported it to the Civil Defense.

“We were not called to tend to the incident,” he said, while emphasizing that all public schools are required to conform to safety and security regulations.

Jeddah Education Affairs Directorate spokesman Humoud Suqairan said the directorate formed an investigation committee to look into the incident.

“The committee decided to close the swimming pool at the school immediately and permanently. There are talks of closing down swimming pools in public schools throughout the Kingdom as well,” said Suqairan.

Lawyer and legal consultant Abdulkarim Al-Qadi said the father of the deceased student had the right to demand justice from the Ministry of Education.

“The father has the private right to demand blood money from the ministry for his loss. His son died in a public educational institution due to negligence. As for the public right in the case, the school may be subjected to the appropriate penalty based on the safety and security violation it had committed,” Qadi said.

SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE