Whitsunday Regional Council charged after Chinese tourists drown at Airlie Beach Lagoon in 2018
A father and son were underwater for at least six minutes before someone raised the alarm.
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A north Queensland regional council has been charged following a double drowning that claimed the lives of a father and son, sending shockwaves through the tourism hub.
In 2018 two Chinese tourists – a 30-year-old man and his five-year-old son – died while swimming at the Airlie Beach Lagoon, a public pool.
The pair was pulled unconscious from the water about 4pm on October 28.
They had been underwater for about six minutes before someone swimming noticed a man at the bottom of the pool and raised the alarm.
The man was receiving CPR when bystanders spotted a child fully submerged.
He was pulled from the water a few minutes after his father.
Despite frantic efforts to save their lives, neither could be resuscitated.
The tragedy prompted a Workplace Health and Safety Queensland alert in a bid to prevent a similar tragedy anywhere else.
Following a WHSQ investigation, the Whitsunday Regional Council was charged with failing to comply with its primary duty of care under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 between May 30, 2017 and October 29, 2018.
The Whitsunday Regional Council is responsible for operating the Airlie Beach Lagoon.
The WHS Act states: ‘A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking’.
Prosecutors alleged the council “failed to ensure the health and safety of persons was not put at risk from its operations of the lagoon, and that its failure exposed persons to a risk of death or serious injury”.
The case was first mentioned in Proserpine Magistrates Court in December., with the matter adjourned to later this year.
Members of the Whitsunday Regional Council did not respond to a request for comment.
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