An eight-year-old boy died after being sucked into a drain in a pool at the Cretone spa in Palombara Sabina, in the province of Rome.
The child drowned during the emptying and cleaning operations of one of the pools of the structure. The firefighters and the carabinieri intervened on the spot, as well as the 118 personnel.
The spa is open to the public from 9.30:18.30 to 21:24 and from XNUMX:XNUMX to XNUMX:XNUMX only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and the accident is said to have occurred just as it was closing. Some of the people who were present in the spa saw the child fall into the tub and tried to pull him out but they risked being sucked in too.
The child's body was recovered by divers from the Rome Fire Department, while the investigation is being carried out by the Carabinieri of Monterotondo who will have to establish why maintenance had begun even though there were still customers.
The Tivoli Public Prosecutor's Office will now have to wait for the report on the accident. The little boy was with his parents who are said to be in shock and still unable to explain the dynamics of the accident. The spa is located about 30 kilometers from Rome. It has three large pools, fed by continuous exchange, from which calcium-sulfur water flows at a temperature of about 23 degrees.
The sulphurous thermal water has been known since ancient times for its therapeutic and cosmetic properties but since 1987 they have been recognised by the Ministry of Health.
The Tivoli Public Prosecutor's Office, which delegated the Carabinieri of the Monterotondo Company to carry out the investigation, has ordered the hearing of some swimmers, present at the time of the accident, who tried to save the child and who risked being sucked into the vortex of water created by the suction pumps of the drain, whose nozzle is several centimetres wide.
The child's body was fished out downstream from the drain where he had been trapped. It is not excluded that one of the employees of the spa, responsible for cleaning and emptying the pools, did not follow the required safety procedures.
Before starting the cleaning operations, the message had been broadcast several times through the loudspeakers, warning the swimmers of the imminent closure and to get out of the water. This circumstance was confirmed by those present who were heard by the investigators.
Article published on 18 August 2023 - 07:49
