A 6-year-old boy drowned while playing in a pond on Monday afternoon in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
Police said they received a call at around 4 p.m. from a man saying that a young boy had drowned in a pond located in the vicinity of a waste incineration plant, TV Asahi reported Tuesday.
Police and firefighters rushed to the scene and pulled out Ryuto Matsumura. The boy was in a state of cardio-respiratory arrest and was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead approximately three hours later.
According to police, Ryuto went with his older brother and three friends to the pond to swim and play. Due to the recent excess rainfall, the pond's depth reached nearly 2 meters or more in some areas. Because of the dangerously high and abnormal water levels, a fence was erected around the pond and a sign was posted advising people not to swim there.
Police said the children told them they jumped over the fence.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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justbcuzisay
I assume that was a typo 'advising people to swim there'-> 'advising people NOT to swim there'?
Always sad to hear these stories, especially when the city or whomever put the fence up to try to prevent some of these tragic accidents.
Disillusioned
A sad tale! Obviously the fence and signage were inadequate to stop a group of very young boys getting in.
Mirai Hayashi
well, there's your problem!! LOL
Seriously...parents??!! C'mon!!
gogogo
Why didn't the guy that phoned pull the kid out!
nath
Where were the other children why didn't they help him? Very sad story.So young to die. Just starting to live.RIP little guy I pray you are in heaven.
ConnorH93
@Disillusioned
The fence and sign was adequate, just the parents in Japan expect the state to do their parenting for them which is ridiculous.
chuichi
so sad! these things seem to happen a lot in Japan? I remember reading these kinds of news here quite frequently... RIP little boy
Pandabelle
Please don't make pointless political comments about the tragic death of a young boy. It's very petty.
techall
Five kids got over the fence and one of them died. Obviously it was not adequate. Maybe hire one of those old-guy security guards who work for less than minimum wage to keep kids out......safer and a job for someone who needs it.
Droll Quarry
The parenting was the item that was not adequate. I agree with the posters here that say a significant number of parents give their kid a cell phone, put them on the street and expect the rest of the world to watch them,
nath
Compare this to the other side - parents who are too afraid to let their kids live/learn for themselves, and end up raising kids who live in their basements until 40 years old and have no idea how to take care of themselves.
I'll teach my kids to be independent, thanks.
Amidalism
I don't think that these kids were properly taught to be independent though. Independence comes with responsibility and critical thinking, both of which these older kids seemed to be lacking by thinking it was ok to hop over a fence and ignore the signs with a 6 year old.
Droll Quarry
I agree with you on this point, the world has become over safety PC on so many points that many people end up hiding under their beds. The post I was commenting on wanted to make the point that it was "society's" job to hire a guard for the pond etc. We have become a society that cannot take any responsibility for our own mistakes and stupidity. Just read the JT posts after any tragic accident or crime and it quickly skews over to being the government's fault or society in general.