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Meck. Co. officials: Pool where boy died was closed

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Mecklenburg County inspectors say the apartment complex pool where a 13-year-old boy drowned over the weekend had been closed because of water that was too cloudy to be safe.

Tim Dutcher, who oversees the county's pool inspectors, said that management had posted a sign warning that the pool at the Woodbridge Apartments off Albemarle Road was closed Saturday, but that the sign may have been flipped over and not visible.

Abishek Tamang was found at the bottom of the pool late Saturday and Dutcher said that an inspection showed acceptable levels of chlorine but that the cloudiness was definitely an issue.

 "Obviously we saw what the risk was. You always want to be able to see what's in the water, if someone's struggling  and could see what was happening.  If there had been an adult there they hopefully could have seen something sooner," Dutcher said.

He said the apartment complex had chosen not to have the pool inspected before it opened last weekend — an option chosen by about half of the public pool operators in the county — and that it would have been inspected within 60 days.

Eyewitness News checked last year's inspection report and found that inspectors found similar concerns — water "a little bit cloudy" and a main gate that was propped open with children entering the pool area.

The management at the Woodbridge Apartments referred questions to their corporate office but Eyewitness News had not been able to reach someone there late Tuesday.

Read our past coverage:

Health Dept. investigating apartment pool drowning