Sestri Levante – Alice, the 11-year-old girl sucked into a swimming pool drain in Sestri Levante last Wednesday, died after two days of agony.
The little girl had been rushed to the Gaslini Pediatric Hospital in Genoa in desperate condition. Originally from Suisio in the Bergamo area, the girl was spending a few days on vacation with her mother, grandparents, and two younger siblings at the Bagni Segesta spa.
Alice had dived into the pool and got stuck underwater with her hair caught in the nozzle connected to the pool's suction system. A child who was with her raised the alarm.
The owner of the establishment immediately dove into the water and, using a pair of scissors, managed to cut her hair and free her. However, when the girl was brought back to the poolside, she was already unconscious. Paramedics attempted to revive her for about 45 minutes, including using a defibrillator, before she was airlifted, in critical condition, to Gaslini Hospital. Alice had not regained consciousness since.
The community of Suisio expresses its condolences for the death of little Alice
The Suisio Parish Community announced the news of her death, posting a message of condolences for her family on social media: "The Parish Community expresses its deepest condolences and extends its heartfelt condolences to Alice's family. In this time of great sadness, our entire community joins in remembrance and prayer, sharing the grief of her loved ones and those who loved her."
The Port Authority's investigation into the tragedy is still ongoing. The swimming pool has been seized, and investigators have collected statements from the manager, staff, and several bystanders, as well as acquired video surveillance footage and other material useful for accurately reconstructing the events and verifying the proper functioning of the suction system.
I'm so sorry for the little girl, but it's unclear how it happened or why no one saw the facility before. The management didn't explain things properly, and the people present seemed unsupervised. We hope the investigators will find out and those responsible will be held accountable.