Footballer, 14, electrocuted to death in swimming pool after diving in at luxury resort to get his phone back
A YOUNG footballer was shocked to death after diving in a swimming pool to get his phone back.
Emiliano Sanchez Tavitas, 14, was reportedly electrocuted when the underwater lights in a luxury resort‘s pool came on during his dip.
Paramedics battled for 50 minutes to save the boy before declaring him dead due to a cardio-respiratory arrest.
At least five other swimmers also received shocks at the Dream Lagoon complex’s Crystal Lagoon pool in Apodaca, in the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico.
They were all shocked at 7:30 pm on Saturday when the pool’s lights came on as the sun was going down.
A 13-year-old girl lost consciousness but was revived.
Emiliano’s mother Denisse Tavitas has attacked official reports that described her son’s death as an “unfortunate accident”.
She said her son’s death “was not an accident”, but he was killed by shoddy building work and negligence.
“Emi my beautiful boy… died as a result of an electric shock while he was inside a pool owned by the subdivision #CystalLagoonsApodaca, when the internal lights came on due to inadequate installation and lack of maintenance,” Denisse wrote on social media.
The grieving mother said she asked the company in charge of the work to accept responsibility and said they had “falsified everything”.
Denisse has filed a complaint with the Nuevo Leon State Attorney General’s Office.
“We know that in an environment loaded with corruption, anything can be possible,” she said.
She also slammed those in charge of the pool, saying that the lighting area has since been covered and tied down with straps.
“They will do anything so that there is no evidence of the event. Help me find #JusticeForEmi,” she said.
Emiliano, a student at the Liceo de Apodaca, was about to enter his final year at school.
He enjoyed playing football and flag football, known as “tochito” in Mexico.
His body was veiled and later buried in a cemetery in La Estanzuela, in southern Monterrey.
A mass was celebrated for the late boy, where friends and loved ones held a minute of applause and released coloured balloons into the sky.
Dream Lagoons is an ongoing building project that features a large artificial lake, with crystal clear water and luxury apartments and houses built around it.
An investigation is ongoing to establish the responsible party for the incident, Mexican media reported.