This footage shows a young boy drowning in a swimming pool in China while adults around fail to notice him struggling for over a minute.

The incident took place in the city of Lianyuan, in south-central China’s Hunan province, on Sunday, 14th August.

In the footage, an adult can be seen standing by the swimming pool in a white T-shirt – it is currently unclear if he is a lifeguard – while the boy drowns.

The young boy, who has not been named, can be seen desperately trying to get his head above the water as he splashes and flails his arms.

Another child comes up to the edge of the pool and sees the young boy struggling before walking away.

Eventually, after over a minute of struggling, the young boy sinks to the bottom of the swimming pool.

The man in the white T-shirt walked over to the corner of the swimming pool where the young boy has drowned and finally notices his lifeless body.

But instead of jumping in, he points to the swimming pool and shouts to someone on the other side of it.

The footage, which appears to be CCTV, then shows another man in a white T-shirt running over from the other side of the swimming pool and jumping in.

He dives down and retrieves the young boy while another adult jumps in to help him.

The pair remove the young boy’s body from the swimming pool as the footage ends.

A second piece of footage shows lifeguards trying to save the lifeless boy’s life while a woman – it is unclear if she is his mother – is howling on the floor next to him.

The young boy reportedly died despite the efforts made to save his life.

Local officials quoted by Chinese media said that the swimming pool has been closed. It is understood that they are investigating the incident. It is unclear if any arrests had been made at the time of writing.