Irvine : Near-Drowning Victim in Critical Condition

A 21-year-old woman was in critical condition Friday at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana after she was pulled unconscious from the bottom of a pool Thursday, Irvine police said.

Chin J. Soong was pulled from a community pool at 11 Redhawk by a swimmer, and others at the pool administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived, Lt. Bob Lennert said.

A police spokesman said Soong, who was visiting an Irvine resident, is from overseas. The spokesman was unsure of her native country.

Lennert said Soong was under water probably one or two minutes. Another woman swimming in the pool at about 1:15 p.m. Thursday saw Soong on the bottom, but thought at first that Soong was playing under water, he said. However, the second time the woman swam by, she saw that Soong was unconscious and pulled her to the surface, he said.