Boy, 14, drowns in Thai swimming pool

A British teenager died at a water park in Thailand after getting sucked into the pool's pump system.

Nathan Clark Griffiths, 14, became trapped in the water park's pumping system after losing his swimming goggles, which had fallen through a grill at of one of the pools at the Pattaya Water Park, 85 miles from Bangkok.

Nathan, from the Isle of Man, told his older brother Rhys, 15, that he was going to look for them and lifted the grill and entered the hole below. That was the last time he was seen alive.

It took over half an hour for the staff at the resort to react to the family's call for help. When they did, engineers opened a water gate in the resort's pump room discovered Nathan's body.

The boy's father, Jim Clark, a tunnel engineer, had dived in to try and save him after Rhys raised the alarm, but he could find no trace of his son.

On a blog Rhys said that, when he initially told staff what had happened, they did not believe him.

"The lifeguard said we shouldn't play jokes like this and dismissed us. My stepmum was begging them to check the pipes. They argued back, saying it was impossible as the grill was locked.

"After a full 30mins they agreed to check the pipes. While they were checking I went to the ticket booth to make an announcement as to whether anyone had seen him. I was coming down the stairs to the main pool when I heard my father shout 'No!' very loudly, then my stepmother screaming."

Mr Clark has a Thai wife whom he met in Britain, who is the stepmother of his sons. They were planning to relocate to India where Mr Clark had a posting. The boys had recently left schools in Douglas, the Isle of Man.