The Itä-Uusimaa police department said on Thursday that it is investigating the drowning death of a seven-year-old boy in Porvoo as a case of involuntary manslaughter.
The boy drowned at the Porvoo city swimming pool last Thursday, when he took part in a supervised after-school programme. At the time of the incident, a group of children had been using a multi-use pool as part of the afternoon activity.
Investigators said that they have taken possession of surveillance camera footage from the swimming facility and have also conducted several interviews. Police said that the video material offers a clear picture of the sequence of events and that they are aiming to fill in the narrative with interviews.
After-school programme supervisors and swimming hall lifeguards were present at the time of the accident. Police said in a statement on Thursday that they were looking into the actions of persons responsible for safety and were also examining structural safety on the premises.
Detective chief inspector Tero Tyynelä said that he could not say whether or not police have identified any suspects in the case.
"At this stage the mission of the police is to analyse the chain of safety arrangements from beginning to end. That is what we are doing. This unfortunate incident has occurred under so-called supervised conditions. The role of police is to determine if the arrangements were so-called in order," he commented.
In the statement police called on two women who were said to be near the children in the multi-purpose pool at the time of the incident to contact them at 0295 436442.