Four-year-old Belgian girl drowns in swimming pool in France

A four-year-old Belgian girl drowned last Saturday in a swimming pool at a campsite in Saint-Honoré-les-Bains, in the French department of Nièvre. According to various media reports, the child died despite the rapid response of bystanders and the emergency services.

According to the Belgian newspaper Sudinfo, the girl who died was from Beaumont, in Hainaut province. She was part of a family with four children who were on holiday at the campsite in Saint-Honoré-les-Bains.

The girl is said to have escaped her parents' attention for a moment and jumped into the pool. According to local media, the pool was not supervised, unlike public swimming pools. There was no lifeguard present, only a supervisor responsible for logistics.

Didier Bourlon, the mayor of Saint-Honoré-les-Bains, told local newspaper Le Journal du Centre that the parents were not at the pool when the accident happened. He confirmed that there was no lifeguard present, but added that “this is not a legal requirement for a swimming pool at a private campsite”. “There is simply a sign warning of the dangers,” he stated and called for vigilance.

The local public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy, focusing in particular on supervision, the organisation of the campsite and the conditions in which the children were being looked after.

^{Illustration © PHOTO Valentino BELLONI / Hans Lucas via AFP}