Drown tragedy mum: Resort pool was faulty

A lawyer acting for a British mother whose husband and two children drowned at a Spanish resort says the family remain convinced there was something wrong with the pool.

Christian preacher Gabriel Diya, 52, son Praise Emanuel, 16, and daughter Comfort, 9, drowned in the pool at a resort in Fuengirola on Christmas Eve.

His wife Olubunmi Diya, 49, and surviving daughter Favour, 14, were expected to travel back to London last night on their original return flight.

Mrs Diya has disputed claims that the family could not swim.

She said: “The children went into the pool using the steps but found themselves dragged into the middle, which was deeper and called for help when they could not get out.”

Her husband went in to help them while she raised the alarm, but he too got into difficulties.

Lawyer Javier Toro said the pool did not have a shallow end and deep end. Instead, the deepest section was in the middle and swimmers found themselves in that part of the pool “when they least expected it”.

He said: “The family thinks that something was wrong with the pool, whether it be the design or the suction or the temperature of the water and that there could be several factors that could have combined to cause this terrible loss of life.” A resort spokesman said: “Investigations have confirmed the pool was working normally and there was no malfunction of any kind. These are findings of the police investigation and not our own internal findings.”