Fitness chain to pay up for pool drowning

A fitness center chain in the city has been ordered to compensate 341,000 yuan ($54,116) to the family of a woman, who drowned at one of its swimming pools two years ago due to poor management, a local court has ruled.

The parents of the victim, a 28-year-old woman surnamed Yang, who died at a Will's Gym in Pudong New Area, took the company to court after the two sides failed to come to terms.

The parents sought the amount won in compensation, saying that the gym was half-responsible for their daughter's death.

The parents argued that the pool's lifeguard took too long to rescue Yang and gave her improper first aid, which led to her death.

Emergency help arrived shortly after Yang was pulled out of the pool on November 21 around 7:30 pm, but medical officers were unable to resuscitate her after 30 minutes, according to local police.

A lifeguard, surnamed Chen, told police that he called for help after using a pole to get Yang out of the pool, after he saw her behaving unusually. He said that his shift partner was in the men's changing room at the time.

Will's refuted that Yang's sudden death was caused by drowning, saying that she had a case of food poisoning, evident by the food she had vomited after being rescued by medics. Nonetheless, staff had responded quickly and provided timely first-aid treatment, the gym said.

Although the exact cause of the death was unknown since an autopsy was not performed, the court ruled that Yang's death came down to the gym's poor management. Staff had carelessly allowed Yang to enter on her friend's membership card by failing to check her physical condition before she used the facilities, said judge Tang Huaping.