Three members of a British-American family of five
drowned in a hotel pool on Christmas Eve while on holiday in Spain,
local media reported on Wednesday.
The accident happened on Tuesday afternoon in Mijas on the Costa del
Sol in the south of the country, media reports said, citing local
authorities.
The cause of the accident was not yet clear, a police spokesman told
dpa on Wednesday, but a problem with the pool's pump has not been
ruled out.
The family had been in Mijas, not far from Malaga, for a few days.
A
9-year-old girl initially got in trouble in the pool, the Sur
newspaper and other media reported, citing witnesses. Her father and
16-year-old brother tried to rescue her, but all three ended up
dying.
The management of the Club la Costa hotel said employees and a doctor
had come to the immediate aid of the guests after the alarm was
raised. However, attempts to resuscitate the victims were
unsuccessful.
Witnesses, especially the mother and her third child, were receiving
psychological counselling.
A view of a swimming pool where three members of the same British family, a father and two children, were found on Christmas Eve at a Costa del Sol resort in Las Lagunas de Mijas, southern Spain. Reuters