Boy dies in Quesada pool tragedy
Second drowning of a child in six days following Calpe death
A FOUR-year-old boy on holiday with his family died after falling into a swimming pool at the house in Ciudad Quesada where they were staying on Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor of Rojales, Antonio Pérez told Costa Blanca News that he and councillor for public security, Lourdes López had visited the family to pay their condolences and offer support.
He explained the family had only stopped to spend the night with relatives who were also on holiday and had rented a villa in the urbanisation.
The parents are Belgian nationals of North African origin, and had been travelling from Almería to Castellón.
They arrived at around 14.00, he said, but shortly before 18.00 saw the boy floating in the pool. One of them is a nurse at a hospital in Belgium, noted the mayor, and tried to resuscitate him but when he did not respond they called the 112 emergency number.
Local police officers arrived first and also tried CPR on the boy, as well as using the defitold brillator from their patrol car until the emergency ambulance came. Paramedics took over and spent another 30-40 minutes doing their best to save his life but to no avail, said Sr Pérez. Guardia Civil arrived later and they have opened an investigation to determine exactly what happened.
The investigating judge sent a forensic doctor at around 20.30, who authorised the boy’s body to be taken to the forensic medical institute in Alicante for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.
The mayor appealed to anyone at a place with a swimming pool not to drop their guard or take their eyes off children even for a minute, as this short time is enough for a tragic accident to occur.
He noted that pools can be just as dangerous to adults too and so extreme caution should be taken when using them.
Calpe
This was illustrated last Thursday (July 30) when a girl, who was also four years old, apparently drowned in an urbanisation swimming pool in Calpe. Sources close to the case state news agency EFE it had happened at around 13.45 in circumstances that had not yet been established.
Despite attempts being made to resuscitate her for about half an hour, they could not save her life.
EFE reported that the girl’s mother is Dutch and had apparently been looking after her other child, a baby just a few months old, when the girl left the house and fell into the pool.
Santa Pola
An elderly woman also died at Gran Playa beach in Santa Pola on Wednesday. According to the emergency services, they were called at 19.08 and sent an ambulance and another medical crew. They said the woman, aged between 75 and 80, displayed symptoms of drowning and died at the scene.
At about 18.15 at the beach below the lighthouse in the same municipality, a man aged 70 required treatment for symptoms of drowning. Fortunately paramedics were able to resuscitate him.