Genting Dream Tragedy Investigation Underway For 10-Year-Old S’porean Boy Who Drowned

Genting Dream Cruise Tragedy Involved Singaporean Boy Who Passed Away At Swimming Pool

A long-awaited cruise trip turned into tragedy for the Heng family, on board Genting Dream’s ship in Langkawi on Monday (18 Nov).

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Sadly, a young 10-year-old boy who was swimming in the ship’s pool, never got to see the pristine shores of Phuket in Thailand where the boat was meant to dock that night.

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Here’s how the Genting cruise tragedy unfolded, as we send our sincere condolences to his loved ones. You can follow up on coverage in our previous article here.

Suspected drowning incident in cruise ship’s pool

At around 7.30pm, Langkawi police were alerted to an emergency case. A young Singaporean boy had reportedly been involved in a drowning incident.

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The 10-year-old’s unconscious body was found at the ship’s swimming pool, while on a holiday with his mother and a family friend.

Police clarify that investigations are ongoing, but based on preliminary evidence, they believe that the boy had drowned.

Cruise’s medical team did CPR, but child passed away

Dream Cruises tells Channel NewsAsia (CNA) that an “on board medical team” administered “medical and resuscitation” aid — as well as Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to the boy.

However, the efforts were to no avail as the child passed away.

Although some visitors were described to be “bathing in the pool”, they unfortunately “failed to rescue the victim”.

A pool attendant and fellow passengers were also present at the scene, say the police in a statement released to Bernama.

3,000 passengers on cruise with children’s water park

About 3,000 civilians were onboard the ship, which was bound for Phuket that night.

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CNA reports that the ship was operated by Dream Cruises, for a 3-night itinerary, which began on Sunday (17 Nov) from Singapore.

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The luxury cruise line boasts of an in-house waterslides, water park and swanky pool side facilities on their website. Popular nightclub, Zouk, is also hosted onboard the ship, after it was sold to Genting HK in 2015.

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Witness statements will be gathered to investigate the unnatural death further, state the police.

Phuket getaway turned into a tragedy

The company has confirmed the death of the child, and sends their “thoughts, prayers and sincerest condolences” to the “families of the deceased”.

The family will be expected to bring the boy for his final journey home from Langkawi’s Sultanah Maliha Hospital at a later date, after investigations are complete.

Our sincere condolences to his loved ones

With the loss of a life as young as this one, our hearts break for his loved ones as they bring him home to Singapore.

We hope that the police will bring the investigation to a fruitful close soon, and extend our heartfelt condolences on behalf of all Singaporeans to his family.

Featured image adapted from Fliggy & ComeLah.