Mystery power leak at Chinese water park kills boy, 11, injures woman and two children
- Two executives in police custody while cause of incident is investigated
An 11-year-old boy was killed and three others, including two young boys, were injured in an unexplained electricity leak at a water park in eastern China on Saturday.
The Dongfang Zhixiu water park at Jining, Shandong province, has been shut down while the incident is investigated and two executives, identified only by their family names Wang and Zhao, are in police custody, according to a statement by the Jining Hi-tech Industrial Zone’s management committee, which has responsibility for the facility.
According to the statement, a 30-year-old woman and three boys, aged five, six and 11, were injured when an electricity leakage occurred at about 1.30pm on Saturday. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed by water park staff at the scene before the injured were sent to the Jining No 1 People’s Hospital.
By 3pm Monday, according to the statement, the woman and six-year-old boy had recovered while the five-year-old boy was in a stable and non-life threatening condition. The 11-year-old boy had died of his injuries, although the statement did not specify when he died.
Two killed, 12 hurt in slide accident at Chinese theme park
A video clip of the incident has been circulating on Chinese social media over the weekend, showing the children in their swimsuits and the woman, all lying on the ground while staff administer CPR. A voice can be heard in the video saying there had been an electricity leakage.
An unidentified member of the management committee told The Beijing News the situation was being treated as an emergency and it would take time to establish the cause of the incident. “We must find out the cause of the incident before giving a conclusion or punishment. There were no witnesses except these children. [The investigation team] is looking for evidence based on past experience.”
The incident happened only three months after two people died and 12 others were injured after falling from a 235 metre-long slide at an amusement park in Chengdu, Sichuan province.
Also in May, a sudden tornado flipped up a bouncing castle in Laiyuan county in Hebei province, killing two children and injuring seven.
