Dubai: A sports coach, his two assistants and two school officials have been accused of being responsible for the death of a five-year-old schoolboy, who drowned while swimming in a pool for adults.

The British sports coach and his assistants, British and Irish, were said to have allowed the Belgian schoolboy to swim in the pool for adults at the school’s premises in a gated community in Dubai.

According to records, a Dubai Police patrol was dispatched to the location shortly after a drowning incident at the school’s swimming pool at noon in July was reported to the operations room.

Medical reports confirmed that the five-year-old schoolboy drowned and paramedics could not resuscitate him.

Prosecutors accused the three sports coaches, in their 30s, the school’s Australian director and one of the school’s Indian business partners of accidentally causing the boy’s death by allowing him to swim in the adults’ pool.

The suspects pleaded not guilty and refuted any liability pertaining to the boy’s drowning when they appeared before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court on Monday.

Prosecutors said the suspects were liable for the Belgian’s death after they allowed the five-year-old to swim in a pool for adults [above 18] pool in the presence of coaches who do not hold lifeguard permits.

The suspects also were not familiar with training and safety precautions for pools, according to prosecutors, and lacked the proper assessment for potential risks in cases of allowing group swimming.

Records said when police arrived at the pool, the boy was in a critical condition and one of the lifeguards was attending to him.

The boy’s father lodged a criminal lawsuit shortly after his son was pronounced dead in a private hospital in Al Barsha.

When the suspects showed up in court, they denied being liable for the boy’s death.

The Belgian parents also lodged a civil lawsuit against eight defendants, the five suspects, the school where the incident happened, a sports services company [the three suspected coaches’ employer] and an insurance company.

In the civil lawsuit, the boys’ parents are suing the defendants for Dh201,000 in temporary compensation to be paid against their emotional, moral and financial damages.

The parents have taken civil action against the sports services company after the school hired the services of the coaches [suspects] and also against the insurance company that covers accidents that happen at the school’s premises.

The trial continues.