British toddler drowns in family pool in Benitatxell, Alicante

Sandi wrote:Well Anna, until the full facts are known, I don't think anyone should start condemning a family. How many times have each of us with our own children, got on with doing jobs and they have been playing and our household duties means that they have been left unattended? How many times of each of us thought to ourselves it is quiet in there what are they up to? How many of us have been to the loo and left children unattended?

For all we know they could have been playing inside and one of them opened the door and the other sneaked out unbeknown to the parents. This could have been just a tragic accident, because they do happen and I do not feel right criticising the parents before we know the full facts.

Left alone for just a few seconds: British girl, two, drowns in swimming pool in Spain

By Tom Worden
Last updated at 3:17 PM on 16th August 2010



Boats on the Costa Blanca (file photo). A British toddler has drowned in the area at her mother's swimming pool

A British girl of two has drowned in a swimming pool at her mother's villa in Spain.

Gabriela Louisa Manning fell in the pool while her mother attended her twin brother inside the house, police said.

The tragedy happened at around 5pm on Saturday in the village of Benitatxell, 50 miles north east of Alicante on the Costa Brava, where the mother lives with her two children.

A spokeswoman for the Guardia Civil, investigating the death, said: 'It appears the mother went inside the house to attend to the young boy, and when she went back outside she found the girl's body floating in the water.

'She pulled the girl from the water and tried to revive her, them immediately called the emergency services.

'Tragically they were unable to revive her either.

'Unfortunately it can take less than 30 seconds for a person to drown and we are seeing more and more of these types of death in private swimming pools.

'The mother is understandably distraught.'

Civil Guard officers examined scene, the swimming pool and the house.

But the spokeswoman added: 'Everything points to this being a tragic accident.'

It is understood the mother, who has been living in Spain for several years, is separated from the children's father, who is thought to live in the UK.


Tragedy: The incident happened at around 5pm on Saturday in the village of Benitatxell, 50 miles north-east of Alicante

She was treated for shock at her home.

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service in the province of Alicante, on the east coast of Spain, said: 'We received an emergency call from the mother at 5.09pm saying she her two-year-old daughter had fallen in the swimming pool.

'An ambulance was sent to the address, a private home, and paramedics attempted to revive the girl but they were unable to save her life.

'She was unconscious when they arrived and was pronounced dead at the scene.'

The toddler's body was taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Alicante where an autopsy is/was due to be carried out today.

A judge overseeing an investigation into the death visited the villa before agreeing the body could be moved.

The toddler had no visible injuries or signs of violence.

The mayor of Benitatxell, Josefa Ronda Valles, said: 'We are very saddened by this tragic death and our hearts go out to the young girl's mother and the rest of the family.'

The seaside village is hugely popular with British expats, who account for around half the population.

AnnaEsse wrote: It surely takes a lot longer than a trip to the loo time for a child to find his/her way to a swimming pool, drown and be found floating.

Sandi wrote:

AnnaEsse wrote: It surely takes a lot longer than a trip to the loo time for a child to find his/her way to a swimming pool, drown and be found floating.

It can take as little as 30 seconds for someone to drown. The Daily Mail gives more details, the mother apparently took the little boy in to deal with him and left the other child. When she returned she found the toddler in the pool. She had been outside with them prior to her taking the little boy indoors to tend to him.

Sandi wrote:

AnnaEsse wrote: It surely takes a lot longer than a trip to the loo time for a child to find his/her way to a swimming pool, drown and be found floating.

It can take as little as 30 seconds for someone to drown. The Daily Mail gives more details, the mother apparently took the little boy in to deal with him and left the other child. When she returned she found the toddler in the pool. She had been outside with them prior to her taking the little boy indoors to tend to him.

Sandi wrote:Beg to differ docmac

http://first-aid.suite101.com/article.cfm/children-can-drown-in-less-time-than-it-takes-to-answer-a-phone

A child can drown in five to eight centimetres of water within 30 seconds.


http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2698_132/ai_104971291/

While shallow water in pools or along coastlines seem harmless enough to let a child splash around in, you may be surprised to learn that most drownings occur in less than four feet of water. In fact, experts from the American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI), a first aid training and safety organization dedicated to designing and delivering programs in health, aquatic safety, and emergency medical care, warn that small children can drown in as little as one inch of water and in just 30 seconds.