Club members and other parents trying to resuscitate the girl.
KOTA KINABALU: A family outing on the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri turned tragic for a family when their three-year-old daughter drowned while playing in a pool here.
Despite efforts to save Miti Ashlee through resuscitation, she was pronounced dead on arrival at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, about half an hour after the 5.20pm incident.
According to witnesses, there were many children swimming and playing in the pool where its deepest end is 1.5 metres.
Club members and other parents trying to resuscitate the girl.
A group of children swimming in the water revealed that the deceased did not surface and immediately alerted the parents near the pool.
“We did not know actually what happened but I suddenly heard shouts for help,”’ said a member of the club, who declined to be identified.
“We believe that she might have gone to the deeper end of the pool and got into trouble,” the man said.
He said the child was still alive when she was pulled out of the pool but some of the club’s members, who performed CPR on the child, failed to revive her.
Meanwhile, the club’s commodore, when contacted, said the child and her family were guests of a member.
He said he did not personally know the member or his family as the member had only joined the club slightly over a year ago.
He said the club did not provide lifeguards as it was a small pool and families were required to keep an eye on their children.
It was learned that family members and a maid accompanied Miti to the club. Members of the family could not be reached.
Meanwhile, deputy city police chief Superintendent M Chandra confirmed the incident and said police did not suspect any foul play.
He said a post-mortem would be conducted to ascertain the cause of the death.