The joy of a father to celebrate Deepavali with his family turned to grief when his son drowned at a water theme park in Parit Bilal, near Batu Pahat, yesterday.

Batu Pahat District Police chief, ACP Abdul Wahib Musa said police received a call from the Tongkang Pecah Health Clinic on the incident at 4.35 pm.

He said S. Rishither, six, was found drowned by his father S. Surentharan in a swimming pool at a depth of five feet, not far from where his family were.

"A lifeguard at the scene, N. Muniandy said he saw the victim's father looking for his son and finding him in the open swimming pool at 3.50 pm.

"The victim's father jumped into the pool, pulled out his son and tried to resuscitate him but was unsuccessful," he said in a statement here today.

Abdul Wahib said the park's management took Rishither to the Tongkang Pecah Health Clinic where he was pronounced dead by the medical officer at the clinic.

He said the pool where the victim, the second of three siblings, was found had 11 different depth levels, namely, from one foot to 11 feet.

He said the case was categorised as sudden death and no elements of crime were found at the scene.

"Rishither was among nine people from two families from Taman Pelangi, Keluang who came to the park for an outing in conjunction with Deepavali.

"Surentharan, the victim's father said they had registered to enter the park at 3.30 pm, about 20 minutes before the incident took place," said Abdul Wahib.

In the meantime, police urged the public visiting any theme park to exercise caution and to always monitor their children.

He said the management of theme parks must also be responsible for the safety of visitors. -- BERNAMA