About 5 million swimming pools that have been linked to nine deaths of children in the past two decades have been recalled by their manufacturers, the security products safety commission announced on Monday morning.
In a press release, the CPSC said that swimming pools, in particular the 48 inch or more heights, are equipped with compression straps that serve as foot, allowing small children to climb in the water without monitoring, even if a ladder is removed.
Nine children who died accordingly were 22 months old and three years old, said the CPSC. Deaths occurred in California, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin and Missouri between 2007 and 2022.
The CPSC press release said it was also aware of three other incidents in 2011 and 2012, in which children who had access to the swimming pool would have already used the compression straps to enter the swimming pools.
Manufacturers are Bestway, based in Hong Kong; Bestway (USA) Inc., based in Arizona; International LTD, from China; Intex Recreation Corp., in California, and Polygroup North America Inc., based in Texas.
They were sold in stores such as Walmart, Target, Sears, Kmart, Lowe’s and Toys “R” US, as well as in online stores like Amazon. They vary at a price from $ 400 to $ 1,000 and are manufactured in China.
Anyone with one of the affected pools is invited to contact the manufacturer to request a free repair kit, which includes a rope that attaches to each vertical support post and envelope around the pool.
The rope “will maintain the structural integrity of the swimming pool” instead of the compression strap, which must be cut and removed.
About 266,000 of the swimming pools were also sold in Canada, where they were also recalled, according to a Health Canada announcement.
