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A CCTV video showing the final moments of a boy before he drowned in a public pool in China has emerged online.
The footage, which first went viral on Chinese social media, shows the eight-year-old boy flailing his arms in desperation as he submerges underwater without anyone noticing.
The incident reportedly occurred on Aug. 14 inside a packed swimming facility in the city of Lianyuan. However, despite the number of adults and children in the vicinity, the drowning child’s struggles went unnoticed for over a minute.
The clip captured the moment the boy dives into the pool where others are seen swimming nearby. A man in a white shirt is seen standing on one side of the pool, but it is unclear whether he was a lifeguard or someone accompanying another young swimmer.
As the boy struggles to keep his head above water, he desperately moves his arms in a panic, splashing the water around him.
During the boy’s ordeal, another child approaches the side of the pool near the boy but leaves immediately after dipping his feet in the water.
The boy eventually stops moving before sinking lower into the water.
When the man in the white T-shirt finally notices the boy’s motionless body, he points at him and appears to shout to someone on the other side of the pool.
Two other men rush to the young boy’s rescue and dive to retrieve the body from the water.
A woman cries next to the boy as lifeguards make an effort to resuscitate him. It is unknown how the woman was related to the boy, who was eventually pronounced dead.