Family’s bid to seek damages rejected
Print Edition
A LOCAL family failed in their bid to sue a travel agency for the death of a 70-year-old man who died in a hotel pool in Japan.
The Huangpu District People’s Court yesterday rejected the 580,000-yuan (US$86,800) compensation claim made by the family of the deceased but ordered the agency to refund the 13,000 yuan travel fee.
The deceased man, surnamed Chen, bought a five-day 2-person tour of Japan for which he paid 15,000 yuan. On March 24, the first day of the tour, Chen went to the hot spring pool alone but drowned in the pool. He was declared dead at hospital.
As the family did not insist on an autopsy, it is not known what caused Chen’s death. But his family claimed he was in perfect health and blamed the agency for being irresponsible. They said the tour guide failed to identify Chen when he was found by the staff in the pool.
The agency however argued that Chen, who was 1.75-meter tall, could not have drowned in the hot pool which was only 54 centimeters in depth. They said the tour guide did not recognize Chen immediately as it was just the start of the tour.
The court accepted that an adult had to be aware of his or her health condition while using the pool or bath. Moreover, Chen had used the hot spring pool before in Japan. It said there was no evidence that the tour guide’s inability to recognize Chen led to his death, adding Chen’s wife too should also have been alert about the situation.
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