Members of the public have been warned not to bathe alone in hot pools after a woman was found dead at the bottom of a motel thermal pool in Tauranga on New Zealand’s north island earlier this week.
The tragedy at the Cameron Thermal Motel is the latest in a series of similar deaths and is being looked into by New Zealand health and safety inspectors.
According to the New Zealand Herald, the motel’s owners discovered 41-year-old Catherine Hintz, a resident of Palmerston North, at about 4.30pm local time on New Year’s Eve. The owners and paramedics tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her.
The latest tragedy comes only a month after the body of a 75-year-old GP Kesho Sharma was found in a Rotorua motel’s thermal pool.
Following the two deaths, and another two similar deaths in Rotorua in 2007 and 2008, coroner Wallace Bain has recommended that bathers avoid bathing in thermal pools alone. In a further safety measure, Mr Bain has advised that owners stir the water in thermal pools and measure the levels of hydrogen sulphide gas before anyone enters.
The newspaper reports that Rotorua District Council bylaws require that owners test their geothermal pools’ hydrogen sulphide levels every six months. In Tauranga City Council district pools must be emptied and cleaned every day, have specified amounts of water “flowing through” and install signs warning bathers not to put their heads under water. Rein Van Staalduinen, the motel’s owner, said that the business was compliant with these requirements.
