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Two foreign guests die of suspected electrocution in Bengaluru five-star hotel pool; two rescuers hurt
A German Lufthansa crew member and a Slovak IBM project manager died on Friday evening, 30 October, of suspected electrocution in the Conrad hotel pool in Bengaluru. Two rescuers were hurt and are out of danger. Police have registered a case, and the cause is not confirmed.
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Two foreign nationals died of suspected electrocution in the swimming pool of the Conrad hotel in Bengaluru's Ulsoor area on the evening of Friday, 30 October. The dead are a German national, Alexander Maximilian Theiss, 57, a Lufthansa crew member, and a Slovak national, Juraj Horvat, 45, a project manager at IBM, according to the reports. Two people who tried to rescue them were injured. Halasuru police have registered a case, and the cause has not been confirmed.
What happened
The reports say the two men were in the swimming pool, which is on the third floor of the five-star hotel, when they suffered what is described as suspected electric shocks. Police are investigating how the pool area became electrically charged. The reports found do not give the exact time of the incident.
A German newspaper reported that the underwater pool lighting may have been switched on, allowing electricity to pass into the water. Police have not confirmed an electrical fault, and the exact sequence of events is unclear.
The injured
Two people were hurt while trying to rescue the two men: Mathew Desantis, 41, a US national staying at the hotel, and Rahul Tiwari, 28, a pool attendant and lifeguard employed by the hotel. Both were taken to Manipal Hospital and are reported to be out of danger.
The reports name the German victim as Alexander Maximilian Theiss, 57, a crew member of the airline Lufthansa, who was in Bengaluru on a layover. Lufthansa confirmed that one of its crew members died, expressed condolences and declined to share more details, citing privacy. German media reported that psychological support was being arranged for affected crew members. One report says the hotel was being used as accommodation for Lufthansa crew during their stay in Bengaluru, citing German media.
The Slovak victim is named as Juraj Horvat, 45, a project manager at the technology company IBM. Spellings of the names vary slightly between reports.
Police said the incident was reported at about 6:30 pm. A complaint alleging negligence has been filed by the wife of one of the dead, according to one report. The hotel's website on Saturday showed the pool as closed for maintenance from 31 October to 30 November.
Halasuru police registered a case and began an investigation. Investigators are expected to examine the pool's electrical systems, its underwater lighting and its maintenance records. The investigation will try to establish what led to the suspected electrocution, including how the pool area came to be electrically charged. Police have not announced any arrests, and the cause and any safety lapses have not been established.
The reports found do not include a statement from the hotel. They do not give the sections of law under which the case has been registered, and they do not say whether the pool has been closed or whether the hotel's electrical systems have been inspected by the state's electrical safety authorities.
They also do not say whether the two men were swimming together or whether one entered the water to help the other. Until police or the electrical inspectorate publish their findings, the reports of an underwater lighting fault should be treated as an unconfirmed account from one newspaper.
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