July 14, 2009
BANGKOK (AFP) - A British teenager died in Thailand after he was sucked into a swimming pool pump, police confirmed Monday.
Nathan Clark Griffiths, 14, was swimming with his older brother Rhys at a water park in Pattaya, east of Bangkok, when the incident occurred Friday.
It is thought that the boy was sucked in when he opened a grill at the bottom of the pool.
"Two brothers, aged 14 and 15, were swimming together in the pool at Pattaya Park in Chonburi province... The younger boy disappeared so his brother informed an official," Lieutenant Colonel Anuchet Sartsomboon told AFP.
"The older one thought his younger brother might have opened the grill and been pulled into the pump."
Anuchet said the boy's body was found in a tank storing water from the pump.
"The investigation is not concluded yet but it is likely to be an accident," he added.
The teenager had reportedly been at the resort with his brother, father, Thai stepmother and stepbrother.
Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the death of the teenager. A spokeswoman said: "Obviously our thoughts are with the family at this tragic time and we are providing consular assistance to them".
