Boy drowned in prank at lake, inquest hears
A SCHOOLBOY who had just abandoned a Ramadan fast drowned during a rugby trip to Canada after a team-mate pushed him into a lake as a prank, an inquest has heard.
Abdul Jamal Ottun, 17, disappeared below the surface without anyone noticing. A parent rugby coach who was meant to be watching the group of around 25 pupils was taking photographs at the time.
Andrew Harris, the senior coroner, told Dus Sotoriou: “If you are taking photos you cannot be supervising at the same time.”
Jamal had been observing Ramadan for almost a month but had abandoned his fast some 24 hours earlier when the group left the UK over concerns he might struggle with physical activities.
He was a year-12 pupil at Wallington County Grammar School in Surrey and had just finished his Aslevels. The two-week trip marked the end of term.
The group had gone swimming in Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island ahead of a planned match against a local school.
Brume Umukoro, Jamal’s friend, struggled to fight back tears as he described how he pushed him off the jetty for a joke. He said: “He was standing by the edge talking to someone and then I pushed him into the water.
“When he came up I think he had a frown on his face. He wiped his face to get rid of the water and he asked who pushed him in.”
Brume was then pushed into the water and did not realise his friend had disappeared until he climbed out.
A search was launched and Jamal was eventually discovered beneath the jetty. Emergency services conducted CPR for around half an hour.
Mr Sotoriou, one of three supervising adults, said: “There were 25 boys in and out of the water. I wouldn’t have been able to observe Jamal struggling, even if I didn’t have the camera.”
Mr Harris said Jamal’s death, on July 12 2015, raises the need for a lifeguard at Shawnigan Lake.
The inquest continues.