Girl, 4, wanders into pond, drowns

The Buddhist worshippers gathered in their new air-conditioned hall, praying on richly colored mats.

They were focused on the ceremony, so the mother did not immediately notice when her 4year-old daughter slipped out.

The girl is autistic, according to a deputy with the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office, and like some children with that condition, drawn to water. Minutes later, the mother realized she was missing and ran outside to a muddy green pond near the ornate entrance of the Wat Angkorchum Cambodian Buddhist Temple at 16720 Kuykendahl Road.

The girl’s shoes and socks sat on the steps leading down to the pond, but she was gone. The mother and several other worshippers jumped in the water, searching desperately for her. Firefighters eventually found her at the bottom of the pond, which is about 6 feet deep.

The girl was taken by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, where she later died, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

She was probably in the water for about 15 minutes before she was discovered, authorities said.

The family, who is Cambodian, had moved here from California about a year ago and only recently began attending the temple,

said Cheacosarl Koeuth, a senior religious adviser at the center.

The congregation, which is mostly Cambodian, but includes Buddhists from Thailand and Laos, was devastated, he said.

“Everyone was crying,” he said.

Usually they hold prayer services on a concrete slab with a more direct view of the pond, but they had saved up money to build this enclosed room and install air-conditioning for Houston’s sweltering summers.

The pond surrounds a small shrine with a Buddhist figure on it.

Experts say children with autism spectrum disorder often find water soothing and the danger of drowning can be that much greater for them. Koeuth said he was brokenhearted over the tragedy.

“We come here to worship,” he said. “Now this really sad thing has happened.”