A four-year-old French girl has died after drowning in the swimming pool of a hotel in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, while on holiday with her family.
The young girl was staying on the island with her parents and grandparents when the tragedy happened on Sunday afternoon. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unknown, including how long she may have been in the water before she was found.
Emergency services received the alert just before 5:00pm after reports that the child had gone into cardiac arrest at the hotel's pool.
Before paramedics arrived, the hotel's lifeguard immediately began CPR and used a defibrillator in an effort to save her. A basic life support ambulance and a medical emergency ambulance were sent to the hotel, where healthcare teams continued advanced resuscitation for around an hour.
Despite their efforts, doctors were unable to revive the child and confirmed her death at the scene.
The incident is the latest in a series of serious water-related accidents in Lanzarote in recent weeks. Last month, a child died after drowning in the swimming pool of a hotel in Playa Blanca, while only a few days ago a five-year-old boy was rescued in a critical condition from the pool of a tourist complex in Puerto del Carmen before being stabilised by emergency teams and taken to hospital.
The latest tragedy serves as a reminder for families to remain vigilant around swimming pools, particularly during the busy summer holiday season. Young children should always be closely supervised in and around the water, even where lifeguards are present.
