Vacationer dies in pool accident at Four Seasons hotel

Wu Jisheng

In a fatal accident last Friday a man from the mainland drowned, after his lower back was sucked into the outlet of a small massage pool at the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, while he was staying there with his family on vacation.
According to Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, the massage pool was 3 meters in diameter and 0.9 meters in depth, with a water outlet of 0.1 square meters at the bottom.
Allegedly, the strong suction of the water outlet kept the man from being rescued when his wife and another swimmer tried to pull him out of the water. According to reports, it was twenty minutes before the man was able to be pulled out, when the hotel staff turned off the pumping system.
Wu Jisheng, aged 37, was reportedly a wealthy businessman running a company in Shenzhen that develops biometric security and other electronic systems. The source says the man had visited Macau many times for business and vacation alike. At the time of the accident, he had been on holiday since March 31 with his wife and two young children.
The Judiciary Police has taken over the case and say the actual cause of death still needs to be determined by forensic examination. The hotel also responded to the Times’ inquiry yesterday with a reactive statement. It said “the Four Seasons Hotel Macao would like to extend our deep condolences to all those concerned in the recent incident. We are cooperating fully with the investigation being carried out by the relevant authorities. We do not have any further information to disclose at this stage.”
The incident has aroused voices from the lifeguard sector, criticizing Macau’s safety guidelines on swimming pools for being disorganized and lacking a compulsory rule to employ lifeguards in private pools since MGTO’s guideline on hotels employing lifeguards is only “suggestive.” Lawmaker Si Ka Lon further criticized the authorities’ “zero regulation” on pools inside residential buildings, and has urged for a body to formulate guidelines and supervise their operations. BY