Lufthansa crew member dies in suspected electrocution at Bengaluru hotel pool

The incident

Two foreign men died and two other people were hurt on Friday evening, 30 October, after suspected electrocution in the third-floor pool of the Conrad hotel in the Halasuru area, also called Ulsoor, in Bengaluru, southern India. Police identified the dead as a 57-year-old German national who worked as a Lufthansa crew member and a 45-year-old Slovak national who was a project manager with IBM. Both men were hotel guests who had gone to the pool for a swim. Manipal Hospital said four people reached it at about 5.10pm local time. The German man was already dead on arrival, and the Slovak man died while doctors tried to resuscitate him.

Two injured, conflicting accounts

Two people were hurt while trying to rescue the men. They are a 41-year-old US national staying at the hotel and a 28-year-old Indian pool attendant employed by the hotel. A senior police officer said both were under treatment at Manipal Hospital and were out of danger. Bild, as relayed by Blick and Focus, gave a different picture, saying a second crew member was shocked while climbing out of the pool and that a colleague who went to help a pilot floating unconscious was seriously hurt as well. Focus, also citing Bild, said the crew comprised two pilots and eleven flight attendants and described the dead man as a flight captain. Neither detail appears in the police account.

Investigation and complaint

Police have registered a case and are examining the exact circumstances behind the suspected electrocution and the deaths. Bild reported that the water came under electrical current when the underwater lights were switched on while several crew members were in the pool. The wife of the German victim has filed a police complaint, reported by NDTV, which says the men received an electric shock while trying to leave the pool and drowned. That complaint blames negligence by the hotel management in maintaining the pool. A notice on the website of the Conrad, a Hilton group property, says the pool will be closed for maintenance from 31 October to 30 November, according to Bombay Samachar.

Airline and crew reactions

Lufthansa confirmed the death of one of its crew members and said in a statement:

“Lufthansa confirms with deep sorrow that a member of our crew died in an accident during a layover in Bengaluru on Friday, 30 October 2026.”

The airline declined to give further details out of consideration for the privacy of those affected, offered psychological support to the remaining crew members and was looking for another hotel in Bangalore. KLM said in an internal message to staff that its own crew, who were also staying at the hotel, were unharmed but badly shaken, and it asked staff not to use the pool while the investigation runs. Crew members had reportedly complained earlier about the quality of the accommodation, according to oe24. Police put the number of dead at two, but KLM and the hotel had not confirmed the death of the Slovak man at the time of reporting.