The father of a 13-year-old boy who drowned last year while on a school field trip with his Lewiston, Maine, middle school is suing the city of Lewiston and the state of Maine.
The Sun Journal reports that Ali Abdisamad filed the federal lawsuit in connection with the death of Rayan Issa. Rayan, a seventh-grade student at Lewiston Middle School, was on a school field trip at Range Pond in Poland, Maine, on June 12, 2018, when he drowned.
According to court papers, the trip included 111 students and 11 “chaperones,” all school employees. A single lifeguard was on duty at the beach area of Range Pond, according to the complaint.
Sometime after 11 a.m., one of the students reported to a chaperone that he couldn’t find Rayan, referred to only as “R.I.” in court papers.
Local rescue workers who responded to an emergency call found the boy underwater and rushed him to a Lewiston hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The suit contends that the city and state are responsible for the boy's wrongful death and for failing to follow their protocols and standard procedures.
According to the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, Issa had been missing underwater for at least half an hour before he was found.
