Little Mya, 4, walked past safety fence and drowned
A FOUR-year-old girl evaded a safety fence and drowned in a 5ft-deep hotel pool while on a family break in Cyprus, an inquest heard yesterday.
Holidaymakers tried desperately to save “adorable” Mya Piper but she could not be revived.
Andreas Ttofinis, the owner of the Evalena Hotel in Pataras, was charged with a safety offence and was given a suspended prison sentence while his company received a £2,980 (3,500 euros) fine.
Mya, from Darlington, drowned in June 2014 and the coroner in Crook, Co Durham, Dr John Hamilton, apologised to the family, explaining that there had been difficulties getting information from Cyprus.
In a statement, Mya’s mum Lisa, a 40-year-old hairdresser, told how she received a phone call about making a victim statement over a domestic incident due to be dealt with the following day. Ms Piper said the call lasted five minutes and she lost sight of Mya, who had been in the children’s shallow pool. No lifeguards were on duty.
When she realised her daughter was missing she hung up and began a frantic search before spotting a woman pulling her daughter out of the adult pool.
She said: “I was in the water as well and that lady handed her to me. She was unconscious.”
The hearing was told the children’s pool was just over 3ft from the adult pool and separated by a fence which people could simply walk around.
The pool area has now been redesigned so the shallow children’s pool is further away from the adults’ area.
Dr Hamilton concluded that “this was nothing other than a tragic accident”.
He said: “It is every parent and grandparents’ nightmare – you take your eye off them for a minute or two and they can be gone.”
Ms Piper’s aunt, Gillian, paid tribute to Mya, saying: “She was the most adorable, beautiful little girl.”