HIALEAH, Fla. – An official inspection of a pool where three children were shocked on Sunday shows electrical work was conducted on the pool equipment without a permit or inspection.
"Did you do work without permits?" Local 10's Roger Lohse asked the property manager at the Palms West Gardens condominium.
"They told me no comments, I'm sorry," replied the man, who didn't give his name.
The victims, 10-year-old Diego Cabrera, 6-year-old Daniella Gamez and a third child, a 5-year-old girl, were shocked, according to witnesses.
"When they grabbed onto the metal railing, that's when they felt a shock and they were just paralyzed," said Mayra Diaz, two of the victims' cousin.
Cabrera and Gamez's mother told Lohse over the phone that her children are still at Miami Children's Hospital and may be released Wednesday. The pool was still being drained Tuesday but it appears the problem was actually in the pump room, which has been red tagged by the city as structurally unsafe.
A Hialeah city spokesman told Local 10 the cause of the injuries was due to deficient wiring in the pool pumps and a lack of proper bonding and grounding in the pool equipment. This failed to trip the circuit breaker when one for the pumps malfunctioned and energized the water.
A pool contractor was on site Tuesday working in the pump room. It's unclear what he was doing, how long the pumps were poorly wired or when the unpermitted work was done.
"You're asking questions that I don't have answers to," the property manager told Lohse. "But the residents deserve answers. A lot of people were put at risk," Lohse said.