Two Men Die After Suspected Shock in Bengaluru Hotel Pool

A German and Slovak national died after a suspected electric shock in a Bengaluru hotel pool on Friday evening, October 30. Two people who tried to pull them to safety—a US hotel guest and an Indian pool attendant—were injured. Police said Saturday that both injured men were out of danger. The deaths happened at the Conrad hotel in Halasuru. ^1,4

Conrad’s pool is on the hotel’s third floor. Police said the two foreign nationals were swimming when the suspected electrocution occurred. The sources do not establish how the water or pool area became electrically charged. Reports later identified the dead as German national Alexander Maximilian Theiss, 57, a Lufthansa crew member, and Slovak national Juraj Horvat, 45, an IBM project manager. The people who tried to rescue them were identified as US guest Mathew Desantis, 41, and hotel pool attendant and lifeguard Rahul Tiwari, 28. ^2,6

The unknown cause is central to what investigators must establish. A pool is meant for swimming, but an electrical fault can turn ordinary contact with water into a life-threatening danger. Accounts say the men were suspected of being electrocuted, but investigators have not confirmed the cause or found a safety failure. The incident also injured the two people who tried to help. Police are examining how the pool area could have become electrically charged. ^2,5

Police have registered a case and begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths. The next step is to establish how electricity reached the pool area and whether a safety lapse contributed. The sources report no findings on either question. The two injured men remain under treatment, though police say they are out of danger. ^4,5