Two people swimming in a five-star hotel pool in Bengaluru on Friday evening never got out alive. Police say it looks like electrocution.
The pool sits on the third floor of the Conrad in Halasuru, the area many locals still call Ulsoor. Both victims were guests. One was German, the other Slovak. Police confirmed the deaths on Saturday and said a case has been registered.
Two more people were hurt trying to help. A US national staying at the hotel and an Indian pool attendant went into the water after the swimmers and were shocked themselves, according to a senior police officer. Manipal Hospital is treating both. They are said to be out of danger.
That detail matters. It points to current in the water itself, not a single faulty gadget someone happened to touch, though police haven't said that in as many words.
What nobody has said publicly is the time. Or how long the current stayed on. Or who was hit first.
Police didn't release names in their first statement on Saturday. By afternoon several outlets, citing The Indian Express and police, had them.
Alexander Maximilian Theiss, 57, flew with Lufthansa. Juraj Horvat, 45, was a Slovak citizen working as a project manager at IBM. The injured American is Mathew Desantis, 41. The pool attendant and lifeguard is Rahul Tiwari, 28.
The airline confirmed that a crew member died in an accident during a layover in Bengaluru and sent condolences to the family and friends. German media say the Conrad was housing Lufthansa crew on this trip and that several of them were at the pool when it happened. The airline is reportedly arranging psychological support for the crew.
Halasuru police are investigating. Officers haven't said whether they are looking at underwater lights, a pump, wiring, earthing, or something else. No electrical report has been released.
Reports differ on the case itself. NewsBytes says it was filed against the hotel for negligence in maintaining the pool. Other outlets only say a case is registered and the circumstances are being examined. Police haven't settled that publicly, so the word "suspected" stays.
Not much, going by what's been published. On Saturday morning the Conrad's website carried a notice that the pool was closed for maintenance from October 30. None of the reports reviewed for this article carried a detailed statement from management.
It doesn't take much. A cracked underwater light, a pump with damaged insulation or metal fittings that aren't properly bonded can leak current into the water. A swimmer can lose muscle control and be unable to climb out. Anyone who jumps in to help can get the same shock, which is why the first advice in these cases is to cut the power before entering the water.
Pools are supposed to have protection against exactly this. Residual current devices trip the supply within a fraction of a second when current leaks, and metal parts around the pool are meant to be bonded and earthed. Whether the Conrad's pool had them, and whether they worked on Friday, is what investigators will have to establish.
Bengaluru has been here before, in a different setting. A nine-year-old girl died in the pool of an apartment complex in Varthur in December 2023, and residents alleged electrocution. Seven people were later arrested, according to Deccan Herald.
The injured are recovering. The pool is shut. Police have not given a date for the technical findings.
