Three-year-old’s death confirmed to be drowning

The three-year-old girl found unconscious on Sunday in a hotel swimming pool in Paphos was on Tuesday confirmed to have died by drowning, according to two state pathologists.

Angeliki Papetta and Orthodoxos Orthodoxou completed the autopsy on Tuesday at the Paphos morgue and confirmed that the young girl died by drowning but did not provide further details.

Paphos police press officer Michalis Nicolaou said the district’s police unit is continuing their investigations into the event.

He said the family, from Nicosia, travelled to Paphos for holidays and on Sunday afternoon they were all lounging by the pool on sunbeds.

The girl asked to swim in the children’s pool, but – under conditions which are being investigated – was later found unconscious in the larger, adult’s pool.

According to Nicolaou, people were first alerted to the girl’s condition by another swimmer and a lifeguard. The young girl did not survive despite the efforts of those present at the scene and the doctors on duty at the hospital.

Daily Phileleftheros reported that the incident has sparked concern as many other people were present at the pool when the incident occurred, and it is not clear how no-one noticed the issue sooner.

According to state broadcaster CyBC, the hotel has two lifeguards and one of the points of investigation is to establish whether safety measures were followed correctly.

Regulations for the operation of private swimming pools provide for the existence of a “safety supervisor”, with the authority to enforce on all bathers the observance of the rules of safety, hygiene and conduct.

The child’s funeral will take place on Wednesday at 5:30pm at Ayios Philippos church in Latsia. The family has invited all those who wish to honour her memory to attend but noted that they will not be accepting condolences.