Police on Saturday arrested two lifeguards after a nine-year-old boy drowned at a public swimming pool in Beersheba.

The two lifeguards, 38- and 59-year-old residents of the southern city, are suspected of negligent manslaughter.

Medics said they found the boy without a pulse and not breathing. After trying to resuscitate him for more than 45 minutes, they were forced to declare him dead. Police later named the boy as Yaakov Ben-Simon.

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Relatives told Channel 2 that they did not know what had happened and that Ben-Simon was a good swimmer.

One of the managers of the Beit Yatziv pool told the Haaretz daily that the two lifeguards were not at the pool at the time of the drowning, despite being on duty.

Police said that the two lifeguards would be brought before a court on Sunday for a hearing on the extension of their remand.