“The victim died by drowning because he wasn’t very good at swimming,” I Nyoman Karang Adi Putra, who heads the East Denpasar Police, told Merdeka.

The incident reportedly happened yesterday afternoon, when the victim, identified as Stepanus Lende from Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, went to Oranjje Hotel for a swim with his two friends, identified as Stevan and Maksi. 

At first, they started swimming in the shallow pool, before Stepanus moved on to the 2-meter deep pool and soon began to yell for help. 

Stevan and Maksi quickly tried to rescue him from drowning, but was unable to pull him up – the two then ran to the front of the hotel to ask for help.

“They pulled the victim up to the poolside, but he was already unconscious and not moving,” Karang Adi said. 

According to Sugiyono, a marketing staff at the Oranjje Hotel, no one had been aware of any swimming activities that day, as the boys had not asked for permission from management. 

Citing witness’ statement, Karang Adi said that Stepanus and his friends often went for a swim at the hotel without permission, and would run away whenever anyone approaches to reprimand them.

This isn’t the first incident of drowning at the location, according to a report from Tribun-Bali, which highlighted that two victims had lost their lives at Oranjje Hotel’s pool in 2013 and 2015.

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