POOL TRAGEDY Two-year-old girl’s dad and grandad drown after jumping into hotel swimming pool to save her after she fell in
A TODDLER's father and grandfather have both tragically drowned after jumping into a hotel swimming pool to rescue her after she fell in.
Dharmvir Singh, 38, and Gurjinder Singh, 65, lost consciousness after trying to rescue the two-year-old girl in Gold Coast, Australia.
The girl's dad and grandfather dived into the rooftop pool at the Top of the Mark Holiday Apartments at around 7pm on Sunday.
They were dragged from the water by onlookers who performed CPR on them until emergency services arrived.
But unfortunately the men went into a cardiac arrest and died at the scene.
The little girl was playing by the pool when she slipped and fell into the deep end.The girl's mum - who couldn't swim - jumped after the toddler, prompting Dharmvir and Gurjinder to come to the rescue.
The men leapt into the water fully clothed but got into trouble and drowned.
The two-year-old girl and her mum were rushed to hospital in a stable condition.
The family was understood to have travelled from Victoria to vacation at the apartment complex.Mitchell Ware from Queensland Ambulance Service said: "It's an extremely emotional scene.
"Obviously, anyone could understand that - not just to lose one family member but to lose two family members."
The grieving mum's wailing could be heard on the street several stories below in the aftermath of the tragic incident.
Building residents said they were unable to sleep after witnessing the devastating scene from their windows.
Ellie Alavi, who saw the tragedy unfold, told ABC news: "I couldn't sleep last night, it was shocking."
The pool is located at the rooftop of an apartment block building, and other families were using it when the fatal incident occurred.
Mr Ware added that the double fatality of a family could affect the entire community.
"These incidents can have long-lasting effects not just for the family members involved, but also the people that were at the scene as well," he said.
He added that the pool depth would have made no difference for the victims if they were not strong swimmers.
It is also unclear if there were any floatation devices available at the pool.
The police investigation is ongoing and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
According to the emergency services, school holidays and Easter break are an extremely busy and dangerous period with a spike in drownings.
Royal Life Saving Society reported 281 people drowned last year with more than half of those people being over the age of 45. Mr Ware has warned the public to exercise caution when swimming, especially if there are young children around.
"We know that children and even adults can drown within a couple of seconds if they find themselves in those sort of situations," he said.
No comments: