French tourist dies after pool mishap

PATONG: A 31-year-old French tourist, Franck Amani, who was pulled from the bottom of a hotel swimming pool yesterday morning, died last night at the Bangkok Phuket Hospital. Pol Maj Pisit Cheanpetch of Kathu Police Station told the Gazette that Mr Amani and his friends had gone to Soi Bangla in Patong the previous night and had not returned to their hotel, the Thara Patong, until about 5:30 am. Mr Amani, a friend, and a Thai woman who had accompanied them back to the hotel decided to go for a swim. After a while, however, the friend and the woman left Mr Amani alone in the pool. About two minutes after they had left, a hotel security guard spotted Mr Amani underwater, at the bottom of the pool. He yelled for Mr Amani’s friend who ran back and helped to pull the Frenchman from the water. His heart had stopped. Mr Amani was rushed to the Patong Hospital and was then transferred to the Bangkok Phuket Hospital. Although his heart was restarted, he died at 8:30 pm in the hospital’s emergency department without regaining consciousness. It is believed the cause of death was prolonged oxygen deprivation.