Queensland Coroners Court investigation finds lack of English language skills contributed to child’s drowning

An investigation by the Coroners Court of Queensland into the drowning of a five year child at the Runcorn Aquatic Centre in Brisbane's southern suburbs has found that his parents’ lack of English language skills contributed to the death.

Five-year-old Ali Alabedi was involved in an incident in the indoor pool at the facility on 16th November 2019 having apparently climbed into a deep water area from a shallow ramp area where he had been playing.

Witnesses advised that he was submerged for 90 seconds before being pulled from the pool. Despite resuscitation efforts, he suffered hypoxic brain injury and died eight days later.

Releasing the results of its investigation this week, the Coroners Court advised “the facts of (the child)’s tragic death are clear and do not require an inquest.”

Referring the child as ‘E’, the report advised “the information available to the Coroner indicates E’s parents had very limited English language skills. Accepting this as factual, it follows that lack of knowledge of the spoken and written English language was a critical factor in the circumstances leading to E’s death.

In its investigation, the Queensland Coroners Court noted that the boy and his parents were “using the indoor pool ramp, which was designed to enable disability equipment and persons to enter and exit the pool” adding that “the shallow heated water on the ramp is a common area for young children to swim or paddle.”

It then referenced “CCTV footage (showing the child) playing in the shallow water which was about 30 centimetres deep.

“Then, he climbed under a handrail and across a separation bulkhead into the main indoor pool. He lowered himself into the water which was 1.2 metres deep (and that) no-one noticed this happening.”

In its conclusion, the report noted that “at the time, there was no physical barrier between the shallow water at one end of the pool and the main pool area of greater depth. E moved across from the smaller shallow water into the main pool area, unobserved by his parents, who were in the immediate vicinity. This occurred within a matter of seconds.”

It noted that facility manager City Venue Management Pty Ltd adhered to the ‘Keep Watch at Public Pools’ policy, displaying “a large pictorial sign at the end of the ramp where E and his siblings were in the water.

“The sign was headed: ‘Lifeguards are not Babysitters’ (and) showed pictograms to visually convey the message of the kind of supervision required by for the different age groups of children when in the water.

“Afterwards, E’s parents indicated they did not understand the pictogram’s meaning.”

The conclusion indicated that “preventing another similar death of a child from a migrant family requires resourcing to parents to develop English language skills, as well as how to swim.”

In its investigation, the Queensland Coroners Court noted that CVM had three lifeguards on duty at the venue at the time in addition to a receptionist with lifeguard qualifications.

However, the investigation pointed to the placement of the on-duty lifeguards attending the indoor pool noting one member of the team was at “the front counter serving customers (and) as part of her responsibility, she attended the change room at about 3.20pm to change a soap dispenser.

“In her absence, (another) lifeguard covered the front desk (while) two more lifeguards were working around the outside pools.”

It added that each of the staff attended the incident “when they heard people calling out.”

Click here to view the Coroners Court of Queensland investigative report.

Image: The Runcorn Aquatic Centre.