A young boy is in hospital, after he was reportedly found at the bottom of a pool at a northside recreation centre Tuesday afternoon.

The boy, believed to be 7 or 8-years-old, was pulled unconscious from the pool at O'Leary Fitness and Leisure Centre in northeast Edmonton.

Officials said the pool was evacuated and lifeguard staff started CPR the boy, when EMS arrived a short time later, they took over.

The unconscious boy, described as 7 or 8-years old, was taken away by ambulance to the Royal Alexandra hospital.

His current condition is unknown.

Witnesses to the incident said the boy had been at the bottom of the pool for up to eight minutes.

However, city officials said lifeguards are always on duty, and such an oversight is not likely.

“Normally, lifeguards are scanning the pool, so that their scans are every 20 seconds,” City of Edmonton official Mark Torjusen said. “So there really isn’t an opportunity for anyone to be in the pool in distress for a great length of time.”

Spokespersons for the city weren’t sure how many people were in the pool, or how many lifeguards were on duty at the time.