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London boy, 14, drowns while lifeguards take lunch break
Peter Allen, in Paris13 Aug 2009
A criminal inquiry has been launched in France after a London teenager drowned in a lake while lifeguards were on a lunch break.
Liam Manley, 14, disappeared under the water in the Dordogne resort of St Estèphe, near the Atlantic coast close to Bordeaux.
He had dived into the lake with an English school friend during an official lunch break for lifeguards between 1pm and 2pm.
Ater swimming out to a diving pontoon about 100 feet out he got into difficulties and nobody was able to rescue him.
“His young friend tried, but it was impossible,” said French state prosecutor Stephane Beres.
“The friend was the only witness, as the lake's beach was officially closed for lunch and the lifeguards were away on their break.
“When the lifeguards got back from their break one of them swam out to retrieve the victim.”
Up to 3,000 people use the town lake each day, with many hundreds of them swimming.
Yet only three lifeguards are ever on duty at one time, with their union insisting on a lunch break — although there is nothing to stop anyone plunging into the water at any time.
Yesterday was a sweltering hot day. Neither Liam nor his friend are believed to have spoken good French, meaning they may not have known that the lake was unattended.
Liam had been staying with his friend's family in Vieux-Mareuil and the pair had gone to the lake at St Estèphe for the day. His parents, who stayed at home in Britain, have been informed of his death.
Defending his town's lifeguard policy, St Estèphe mayor Marc Veyssiere said: “We welcome 3,000 people every day and about 400 of them go swimming under the watch of three lifeguards.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before, so we are all deeply shocked. A full inquiry has been launched. It will, of course, concentrate on the security of this site, making sure that all correct procedures were followed.”
A police spokesman said gendarmes from nearby Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière were conducting the investigation.
A British teenager has died after a drinking session in Crete. Andre Young, 17, from Saffron Walden, Essex, was holidaying in Malia. He is believed to have suffered head injuries in a fall.
