It will be the security camera footage that helps investigators reconstruct the exact details of the tragedy that occurred on Saturday afternoon at the Hotel Continental in Milano Marittima, when a 4-year-old Austrian girl, who was on holiday at the facility with her family, drowned in the swimming pool. The cameras had partially captured the scene.
It was two young boys who noticed the child lying face down in the water. Walking past on the street, they saw the gates open and noticed something floating in the pool. According to initial findings, it appears that at the time the child drowned, around 2:00 PM, there was no lifeguard service scheduled, although the pool gates were nonetheless open. These are aspects that investigators will need to examine further; they had already interviewed several witnesses on Sunday to reconstruct the events, which were partially captured on camera. The on-duty prosecutor, Angela Scorza, has opened a case file and ordered both the seizure of the pool area and an autopsy on the child's body.
4-year-old girl drowns in hotel swimming pool in Milano Marittima: the investigation
In the water for 7-8 minutes
The camera footage shows the little girl walking alone toward the pool, then there is a gap in the recording, followed by a doctor who had come out of the hotel attempting to assist her. Shortly afterward, the child's father also arrives. From the footage, it was possible to determine that the girl had been in the water for at least 7-8 minutes.
According to the investigation, before drowning, the child had been with her father. The two were in an area between a playground and the pool. The parent, after telling his daughter to stay and wait for him at the playground, walked away — perhaps to go up to the room to get something — but by the time he returned, it was already too late.
