Executive dies in faulty jacuzzi

[Zep]

[size=16]

Exec dies in faulty jacuzzi[/size]

From correspondents in Singapore
December 08, 2006 02:33pm

A GERMAN executive died in a whirlpool bath at a
Singapore apartment after being sucked to the bottom.

Police did not release the name of the victim, who was in his late 30s
and had recently arrived in the city-state but The Straits Times newspaper
named him as Arndt Starke, the Asia finance director for German firm
Schott AG.

The Straits Times said Mr Starke was found with his stomach stuck to a
suction drain in the whirlpool.

A grille over the hole was broken and he had apparently been sucked
to the bottom, it said.

The newspaper said his fiancee, who was also in the pool, had screamed
for help but the suction was so powerful that four men who tried to rescue
Mr Starke could not pull him out.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20893326-1702,00.html

[Ehizzle]

That is unfortunate. But I would have like to know who the manufacturer was. Also, it didnt mention why they didnt just turn the pump off?! :-? Maybe that was too obvious for them. It seems a little non believable. The jet pump was stronger on a small patch of skin than four guys yanking his whole body away from it?

[anne]

I'm also not sure that I buy that 4 men could not pull him out. If the suction were that strong, and 4 guys were pulling, something would have torn.......

[tileman]

I could have pulled him out by myself. 8-)

[Ehizzle]

what was his stomach doing on the bottom of the tub anyway?

[anne]

what was his stomach doing on the bottom of the tub anyway?

I was wondering that too.....

[wmccall]

Is this another faulty use of the word Jacuzzi?  If so, they should sue on this one.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

4 men would NOT have been able to pull him off!

However, the article is a bit vague as to what he was actually in. At first is sounds like a jetted bath tub, but I have a feling it's actually a built in commercial spa.  Like gunnite perhaps? A lot of older commercial spas run all the time and don't have a shut off switch near by. Many of the older built in spas don't even come close to meeting current US safety standards (such as dual suctions). Dual suctions would have prevented this. I'll say it again, dual suctions, such has been found in US made portable spas for MANY years, and current inground spas, would have prevented this from happening.

[Repeat_Offender]

I'm having a hard time believing this one...my pump inlet screens are at the very bottom of the spa making it all but impossible for anything other than my foot to get caught. Even then, just reach over and turn the jets off.

[Ehizzle]

LOL. I feel sorry for anyone named Sue these says. Way to much "What?"
"I wasn't talking to you"
"What I'm the only Sue here"
"No I'm suing you"
"You can't Sue me, I am sue"

So on and so forth.

[Zep]

Asia-Pacific News

German drowns in a jacuzzi less than 1 metre deep

Singapore - A 2-metre-tall German drowned in a jacuzzi less than 1 metre deep after being sucked to the bottom by a drain, a newspaper reported Friday.

The grille covering the suction drain was found broken, with Arndt Starke sprawled face-down, his stomach stuck to the hole, The Straits Times said.

The force of the suction was so strong that even four men could not lift Starke out of the jacuzzi in a common area of the condominium building. It took Singapore Civil Defence Force officers half an hour to remove the body on December 1.

'Officers had to turn off the suction mechanism and scoop water out of the spa pool before they could lift Starke out and try to revive him,' the report said.

By then, the 39-year-old expatriate was dead.

The managing agent for the Goldenhill Park condominium has closed the jacuzzi and three other pools to check whether they are safe for use.

A 12-year-old boy got stuck for a few seconds at another suction drain in the main pool four months ago, but a friend pulled him away.

Pool specialists said that anti-entrapment grilles prevent people from being sucked in, but the grille in Starke's case was found to be broken when it was checked after the accident.

Starke, who worked for German multinational sales and marketing company Schott, had returned from a four-day business trip to Germany four hours before the drowning.

He had been based in Singapore since March as the company's finance director for Asia.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1230942.php/German_drowns_in_a_jacuzzi_less_than_1_metre_deep

[Ehizzle]

Even if the button wasnt right there, it says they had time to find 4 guys. You would think 3 could have tried pulling him off while 1 walked 4 feet to the button.

[Jacuzzi Jim]

Is this another faulty use of the word Jacuzzi?  If so, they should sue on this one.

 Jacuzzi:-  How the world says hot tub



 Sounds like a commercial type spa suction on the floor mega size pump??
Maybe he had more than his stomach stuck in there??  

[kervis]

Perhaps he was in espionage cahoots with the Russians.....

[Ehizzle]

hopefully he died happy :-?