East Brunswick pool deaths: NJ family of three drown in ‘newly serviced’ pool a month after moving into $451K home after child experienced difficulty leading to non swimmers drowning.
Three family members found dead in a pool at the back of their New Jersey home may have been electrocuted according a new report.
Neighbors in East Brunswick said an electrician’s truck turned up at the house following Monday afternoon’s discovery of the three bodies, including an 8-year-old girl, Sacchi, her 32 year old mother, Nisha Patel and 62 year old father in law, Bharat Patel, in the above-ground 3.5-foot-deep pool CBS NY reports.
Cause of death determined to be accidental drowning
‘The fact that they had an electrician’s truck show up shortly thereafter — I mean, it wouldn’t make sense that three people just drowned right away like that, with an adult there, too,’ neighbor Phil Peterson told CBS.
The family had only moved into the house on Clearview Road about a month ago — and had just had the pool serviced for summer, according to News12 NJ. ‘They were excited to use it,’ Darlene Melendez of News12NJ tweeted after speaking to neighbors on Tuesday.
The Middlesex County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office late Tuesday said the manner of death was accidental. The cause of death was determined to be drowning for all three victims. No other details were immediately available.
Screams heard Monday afternoon in what was supposed to perfect summer day
Concerned neighbors called the cops after hearing screaming from the property in East Brunswick shortly after 4pm Monday afternoon. The family are understood to have bought the five bedroom home within the last month for $451,000.
Sources told NBC the eight-year-old girl got into trouble in an underground section of the above-ground pool, thought to be up to seven feet deep.
Her aunt is then said to have called for help before both Bharat Patel and the youngster’s mom Nisha – neither of whom could swim – jumped in to try and save her.
They all then got into difficulty and the aunt jumped in, pulling Sacchi from the water but not before she had drowned, according to reports.
‘We were so excited for them…’
Officials have also confirmed electrocution was not a factor their deaths.
Neighbors had suggested the family ‘may have been electrocuted’. One eyewitness told CBS ‘an electrician’s truck showed up shortly thereafter’.
But a police spokesman told the dailymail, ‘Electrocution was not a factor.’
The family are understood to have bought the five bedroom home within the last month for $451,000.
They are said to have only just serviced the pool ready for the summer and were ‘excited to use it’, News12 NJ reports.
‘We are from the same part of India, we spoke the same language also,’ neighbor Vishal Makin told CNN.
‘We were so excited for them, it’s the right weather you should get it done and it’s such a bad sad day,’ Makin added.
