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Clearer Water May Have Prevented The Drowning Of Boy At Hotel In Harrisburg, County DA Says

A 7-year-old boy's drowning last month at a central Pennsylvania hotel might have been preventable, according to information from the Dauphin County District Attorney Attorney Frank Chardo.

Red Lion Hotel at 4751 Lindle Road, Swatara

Red Lion Hotel at 4751 Lindle Road, Swatara

Photo Credit: Google Maps

Crews were called to the Red Lion Hotel at 4751 Lindle Road for a reported drowning on June 23 shortly before 10 p.m., as Daily Voice reported at the time.

Two factors may have contributed to the drowned according to District Attorney Fran Chardo:

  • An over-crowded pool-- there were over a dozen people in the pool at the time of the drowning.
  • Cloudy water-- someone vomited in the pool earlier that day so extra chemicals were added.

The DA did not file any charges because the parents were not criminally reckless or negligent.

A routine clarity test will not be conducted since the role the murky water played is unknown.

The hotel has still not released a statement on the drownings or the pool rules and regulations at the time of publication, but say the pool was inspected two days after the drowning.

There is a state law requiring pools to be clear for safety reasons, reading in part:

"Clarity of the pool. Water in the pool shall be sufficiently clear to permit a black disc, 6 inches in diameter on a white field, when placed on the bottom of the pool at the deepest point, to be clearly visible," as stated in Pennsylvania Code Title 28, Chapter 18.25.

For children 1 through 14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes, according to the CDC.

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