Questions over lifeguard cover after British girl, 4, drowns in Lanzarote hotel pool

A witness has questioned where lifeguards were when a British girl drowned in a Lanzarote swimming pool.

A witness has questioned where lifeguards were when a British girl drowned in a Lanzarote swimming pool.

Jake Rhodes, who was staying at the HL Playa Blanca resort, was by the main pool and saw the four-year-old’s parents frantically looking for her on Saturday afternoon.

He said: ‘I don’t know what the lifeguard was doing at the time, but sometimes he wasn’t at his post.

I don’t know where the parents were. I think she ran off and they were trying to find her. I saw them doing CPR and doing everything, trying to save the poor girl.’

The girl was pulled from the water and a site nurse was helped by other guests in trying to save her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ambulances and police were called at 1.30pm, along with an emergency services helicopter.

A spokesman for the Canary Islands emergency coordination centre said a lifeguard reported the girl had suffered a cardiac arrest after being pulled from the water, and CPR instructions were given over the phone.

A British four-year-old who fell into a holiday home pool near Costa del Sol was one of six to have died in 72 hours.

The others happened in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia and the Canary Islands.

Sebastián Quintana, an expert in drowning prevention, said: ‘The lack of attention, supervision, or even absence at the bathing area by the adults in charge is the main cause of these human tragedies.

He added that in nine out of 10 cases, the parents were not present when their child drowned.