Four Years Old Girl Drowns During Swimming Lesson At Private School With No Lifeguard

A four-year-old girl drowned in a pool deemed too deep for children at a private nursery.

The shocking incident took place at a nursery in the Suleymaniye neighbourhood of Inegol in Bursa Province, Turkey, on August 12.

Footage captured staff battling to save little Berra Dizi after she was spotted floating motionless in the water as a swimming teacher pulled her from the pool.

A nurse at the scene gave the girl first aid before paramedics rushed her to a state hospital. Berra was transferred to Bursa Yuksek Ihtisas Education and Research Hospital but di£d in intensive care seven days later.

An investigation found that the pool, used for the nursery’s summer activities, was 74 centimetres (29 inches) deep even though safety rules limit children’s pools to 50 centimetres (19 inches).

Investigators also said there had been no certified lifeguard on duty and that the swimming teacher was not in the pool with the children when the incident happened.

A 12-page report commissioned by prosecutors showed that Berra’s mother had declared her daughter had twice suffered febrile seizures as a baby, but that she had been seizure-free for two years and had been taken off medication on her doctor’s advice.

The school claimed that Berra had suffered an epileptic fit in the pool, suggesting the drowning was caused by her condition rather than negligence.

However her parents rejected the claim, stating that Berra had grown out of the childhood seizures and had no ongoing illness.