Dubai girl drowns in home jacuzzi

DUBAI — A 10-year old European girl in Dubai drowned in a jacuzzi after her hair got entangled in the filter and she got pinned underwater.

The Dubai Police said the tragedy happened in the family’s one-metre deep jacuzzi that had an engineering flaw.

“The young girl had asked for her father’s permission to use the hot tub. However, after some time her father noticed her absence and rushed to the tub to find his daughter motionless and pinned at the bottom of the hot tub,” said Colonel Ahmad Humaid Al Marri, director of Crime Scene Investigation Centre at the General Department of Forensics and Criminology at Dubai Police.

Col Al Marri expressed heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

The officer said the incident happened within the jurisdiction of Bur Dubai Police station and a Crime Scene Investigation team responded to the accident as soon as it was reported.

He added that onsite investigations showed the girl had drowned after her hair got entangled in the filter.

Col Al Marri said technical investigation by the forensic engineering division revealed that the suction power across the tub’s holes was uneven.

He added that Dubai Police’s forensic team detected an engineering flaw in the product, where the tub’s drains created strong swirls in the water flow.

“Yes, it’s easy for long hair, as well as limbs, jewellery, or pieces of a bathing suit, to become entangled in a swimming pool filter or drain, which is why children should always be taught to stay away from drains,” said Col Al Marri.

He warned that children should always be supervised around water bodies especially swimming pools, hot tubs and open beaches to avoid drowning.