The Algerian judiciary reported on Monday the arrest of seven individuals and their subsequent house arrest, following the tragic drowning deaths of five children at the “Les Sablettes” park in Algiers on Saturday evening.
The Algerian Judicial Council issued a statement disclosing the initiation of a “thorough and detailed preliminary investigation” due to the drowning of the five children during two separate recreational outings; one organized by the Martyr Hassan Mzari Youth House in Ain Boucif municipality, and the other by the Al-Marjan Association in the Medea province, situated 90 kilometers south of the Algerian capital.
The Council elaborated in its statement that “the Public Prosecutor at the Hussein Dey Court is investigating the incident, the circumstances surrounding it, especially regarding the legal and regulatory conditions related to the protection of children involved in such activities, and the preservation of their physical safety, while determining the responsibility of anyone found complicit in the current incident.”
It was reported that “the initial results of the preliminary investigation have led to the arrest of seven people who have been placed under provisional custody pending the completion of the investigation procedures.”
The drowning incident has caused a shockwave throughout Algerian society, with widespread sympathy for the families of the victims. Meanwhile, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in a condolence message to the families of the children who were laid to rest in a solemn ceremony on Sunday, described the event as a “horrific tragedy.”
