article_detail

A four-year-old girl has tragically died after being rescued from a swimming pool at a hotel in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, on Saturday afternoon in a tragedy that has shocked the resort.

 

The alarm was raised at around 1.30pm when the child was pulled from the water showing signs of drowning. The 112 emergency service responded immediately, with a coordinating nurse in the operations room confirming during an initial call with the lifeguard on the scene that the girl had gone into cardiac arrest. Instructions were given over the phone to begin resuscitation while emergency crews made their way to the hotel.

 

A spokesman for the regional emergency coordination centre described what happened next. "Emergency response staff who had been dispatched to the scene continued to perform advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation without success, confirming the girl's death," he said. "The Local Police, together with the Fire Brigade, secured a nearby area for the medical helicopter, which was also mobilised to land and take off."

 

Despite the speed of the response and the prolonged efforts of paramedics, the child could not be saved. Multiple Spanish media outlets reported that she was British, though no official confirmation of her nationality has been released.

 

The Guardia Civil have opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, overseen by an investigating judge. There is nothing at this stage to suggest it was anything other than a tragic accident.

 

The incident comes just days after a separate and equally heartbreaking loss. A three-year-old British boy died on June 17 after falling into a swimming pool at a rural holiday home near Periana in Málaga province, in what investigators also described as a tragic accident [June 18 link].

 

Authorities have taken the opportunity to remind visitors and residents of the importance of constant supervision of children around swimming pools, particularly during the busy summer season when hotels and resorts are at their fullest.