A 4-year-old Taiwanese boy drowned in a hotel swimming pool in Sihanoukville on Sunday afternoon as his parents swam nearby, an official said Monday.
Luy Hang, police chief in the city’s Buon commune, said that Hsu Hsuan-cheng drowned at the OC Boutique Hotel while the boy’s parents took a break from teaching him and his older sibling how to swim.
“The hotel has two swimming pools: One is for children and the other one is for adults. The parents brought their children to teach them how to swim at the adult pool,” Mr. Hang said, adding that after taking a break to swim themselves, the parents—whose names he did not know—realized that their son had slipped below the surface.
“The parents were enjoying themselves while teaching their children how to swim and suddenly one of the children drowned,” he said.
Mr. Hang said the boy was rushed to the Sihanoukville Referral Hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arrival. During the Khmer New Year holiday in April, three children drowned in hotel pools in Kep City and Sihanoukville.
