Copyright dailyrecord
A three-year-old British girl has died on holiday in Greece after being found in a hotel swimming pool. The toddler, known only as Matilda, died in hospital 12 days after the incident. The tragedy occurred while the youngster was on holiday with her family in Lardos, a seaside resort village on the island of Rhodes on October 14. It is understood she was left unattended for 10 minutes before she was found unconscious at the bottom of the hotel complex pool. A British doctor who happened to be present at the scene dived into the water to rescue the child and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Matilda was rushed to the General Hospital of Rhodes , where she was intubated, before being transferred to Crete and later to Britain, but she did not survive, reports the Mirror . Her uncle, who was supposed to be supervising her, and a 54-year-old travel agency manager responsible for the hotel's guests were arrested by police. They, along with the 57-year-old hotel owner and the hotel's director, are now facing charges over the child's death. An investigation conducted on-site revealed that safety measures at the hotel were severely lacking. There was no lifeguard on duty, no rescue equipment available at the specific pool, and no designated supervisor present, according to reports. Antonis Zervos, the lawyer representing the tragic child's uncle, has argued that his client "did not see and was not near the child". The hotel manager's lawyer has countered by claiming that the pool is not large enough to legally necessitate a lifeguard. The police have been examining CCTV footage to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident. They have stated that their investigation is still ongoing. A woman sunbathing nearby noticed the girl and pulled her out of the water before raising the alarm. In the early stages of hospitalisation, doctors informed the family that the brain injury she had sustained was irreversible. Michalis Sokorelos, the director of the hospital, described her condition as "brain dead", adding: "The child obviously stayed in the water for a long time. She is not reacting at all."
