5-Year-Old Boy Dies While Playing in Pool at Camp

A 5-year-old boy died while playing in a pool at a summer camp in the hills above Brentwood, a spokesman for the camp said Wednesday.

The victim, Michael Segall of Beverly Hills, was one of about 25 youngsters in the pool that was under the supervision of three lifeguards Monday afternoon, said Martin Cooper, a public relations representative for Tumbleweed Camp.

Unable to Swim

Cooper said the boy died at the end of the first day of swimming instruction. Michael, a nonswimmer, went under while others in the group were vying to pick up large plastic rings at the shallow end of the pool, Cooper said. The water was 3 feet deep.

“For some brief moments, the child was under water and didn’t come up,” Cooper said. “Apparently it was in the nature of a freak accident.”

Supervisors removed Michael from the pool, administered CPR and summoned an ambulance, but the boy was pronounced dead by doctors at UCLA Medical Center. “The probable cause of death, pending review by the coroner, was suffocation due to drowning,” said Lt. Randy Mancini of the Los Angeles Police Department.

He said there was no indication of foul play, but there was no way of knowing how long the boy had been under water before the rescue effort was initiated.

Autopsy Not Completed

A coroner’s office spokesman said no autopsy had been carried out as of Wednesday afternoon.

Cooper said psychologists were called in to help other campers deal with the death. A few parents have pulled their children out of the program, which costs about $860 for a month of daily sessions, he said.

The camp, which has been in operation since 1954, offers computer training, as well as swimming lessons to boys and girls ages 4 1/2 to 14.