Questions emerge after teenager dies one week after being found at bottom of pool

CTV Montreal: Questions after drowning Questions are being asked about how it was possible for a 14-year-old boy to drown during swimming lessons at Pere Marquette pool.

Questions are emerging about the death of a 14-year-old boy who was pronounced dead Wednesday morning, a week after he was found at the bottom of a pool.

Last Thursday the teenager was pulled unconscious from the pool at the Pere Marquette Centre, one of a group of students from Pere-Marquette High School taking swimming lessons.

His failure to surface was only noticed when the next class arrived.

When removed from the pool the boy was not breathing and had no pulse. Lifeguards managed to get his heart beating again, and he was then taken to hospital where he remained on life support for a week.

Rosemont-La Petite Patrie Borough Mayor Francois William Croteau offered his condolences to the boy's family and his schoolmates.

"Today, the entire borough is mourning and shaken by this human drama," said Croteau. "Our most sincere condolences and thoughts go to the family of this boy as well as to his friends and classmates.”

Mayor Valerie Plante also commented on the boy’s death, saying she swims at the pool herself.

“We will do everything that is needed to make sure it doesn't happen again, that's for sure. So we'll wait to see the first report and if we need to dig even more to see about the procedures around the pool or the safety of the pool itself, we will be doing it, because this is very unfortunate,” she said.

Montreal police have ruled the drowning accidental.

The coroner is still investigating the boy's death and the circumstances of his drowning. It will take several months to produce a report.

The family has hired a lawyer, but is not focusing on any legal action at the moment.

A source told CTV the 23-year-old swim instructor on duty at the time has five years of experience and is fully accredited to do the job. CTV was also told there was a Phys Ed teacher and another lifeguard around the pool area, but there is still confusion about what went wrong and how the 14-year-old student slipped beneath the surface, unnoticed.

There are, on average, 22 students in a swim class at the centre.

The Lifesaving Society says an instructor with proper training is allowed to teach a class of up to 30 people without a second lifeguard present.

The pool remains closed until Thursday for inspection.