The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Boy, 8, questioned after fatal accident in Swiss public pool

Boy questioned by police after fatal accident in swimming pool
Boy questioned by police after fatal accident in swimming pool Keystone-SDA

A day after a fatal accident at a swimming pool in La Chaux-de-Fonds, canton Neuchâtel, the boy who jumped from a diving board and landed on a man has been identified.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The eight-year-old Swiss boy was questioned by the police. He will not be brought before the juvenile criminal court.

“Following the appeal for witnesses, the child’s family contacted the police,” public prosecutor Nicolas Feuz told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA on Thursday. He was confirming a report in the newspaper Le Temps.

He emphasised that the work of the lifeguards gave no cause for criticism at the current stage of the investigation. Their intervention in the accident was swift.

+ More than 50 drownings in Switzerland in 2024

According to the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds, the lifeguards were fully staffed at the time of the accident on Tuesday. The person responsible for monitoring the diving board alerted her colleagues by radio immediately after the accident and jumped into the pool to help the victim. Tuesday was not a very busy day for visitors.

The boy landed on a swimmer living in the region after jumping from the five-metre diving board. The 67-year-old died at the scene of the accident as a result of his serious injuries.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

Popular Stories

News

Thun awarded "Swiss Football Home" football campus

More

Swiss football cluster will be built in Thun

This content was published on The new "Swiss Football Home" football campus is being built in Thun. The centre, based on an international model, will include pitches for the senior national teams and the headquarters of the Swiss Football Association.

Read more: Swiss football cluster will be built in Thun

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR