Two students from the Republic of Korea were electrocuted in a public fountain in Hongji Square, Baoshan District in Shanghai on Saturday night.

Police said the water in the fountain's pool had become electrified due to a power leak.

An electrical supply is required to power the fountain's decorative lights, which are switched on every evening from 6-10 PM.

According to the Shanghai Morning Post, the students were sitting by the fountain at about 9:40 PM after dining at a nearby restaurant. When the woman put her hand in the pool she received a shock. She screamed and fell into the water. The man attempted to rescue her, but he too received a shock and collapsed into the pool.

Security staff switched off the power so the students could be pulled from the pool, but they were both already dead. Doctors later confirmed they had been electrocuted by a power leak.

Police cordoned off the fountain area and emptied the pool in order to check the power supply.

A spokesperson for the Shanghai Huge Enterprise Development Co Ltd, which designed and maintains the fountain, said it would address any problems with the fountain once police had completed their investigations.

Hongji Square is located close to the Baoshan campus of Shanghai University, where the two students were taking part in a two-year program.

The university declined to comment on the accident.

Shanghai Youth Daily approached other South Korean students, but they said they did not know the victims' names.

According to Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post, the fountain has been in use for three years. Its pool measures 4 m by 2 m and has a water depth of no more than 50 cm.

(China Daily May 22, 2007)