Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Girl of 9 dies after eating ice cream on hols
Victim suffers allergic shock in Spain
A BRITISH schoolgirl has died after eating ice-cream just hours into a holiday on the Costa del Sol.
The nine-year-old is believed to have gone into anaphylactic shock after suffering a severe reaction.
The girl, with family at a hotel in the town of Mijas in Malaga, is understood to have been allergic to milk and nuts.
She was admitted to hospital on Saturday shortly after 9pm, officials have confirmed. She was then moved to another hospital, where she died on Monday.
The family of five were staying at upmarket holiday resort Club La Costa World in Mijas, which is run by CLC World Resorts & Hotels.
An insider said: “The family arrived the day the tragedy happened.
“They checked in just after midday and went off to a shopping centre. The girl was suffering when she got back to the resort but it was only when they sat down for something to eat that she really started to feel unwell.
“Things took a turn for the worse before they left the restaurant. Staff gave first aid while an ambulance was called.”
Another source said: “The family are still at the resort and are being offered professional support. They have two other young children who are obviously suffering immensely.
“The complex is packed with Britons because it is half-term in the UK.
“They were looking forward to a family holiday in the sun and they are struggling to cope. They are still in a shock.”
The resort said the girl fell ill after eating ice-cream away from the site.
A spokesman said: “Having eaten ice-cream at a local commercial centre, she suffered a severe allergic reaction.”
An official from the Hospital Costa del Sol, near Marbella, where the young girl was first taken, explained: “She was admitted on Saturday evening with anaphylactic shock.
“She was revived and transferred to Hospital Materno-infantil in Malaga around midnight.”
A source said he believed the youngster had gone into cardiac arrest after being rushed to the hospital.
He added: “Her death could be linked to something she had eaten outside the hotel rather than at the hotel.”
An autopsy was carried out at Malaga’s Institute of Forensic Medicine. The results, sent to a judge who will investigate, have not been made public.
Further tests will now take place at the Institute of Toxicology in Seville.
CLUB LA COSTA, MIJAS