Boy, 4, sucked into hotel swimming pool in Majorca holiday horror

Daily Record

2 days ago

The four-year-old's arm was sucked into the cleaning system of the swimming pool at the hotel.
A young British holidaymaker sparked a rescue mission when he was sucked into a hole in a swimming pool in Majorca.
The four-year-old's arm was sucked into the cleaning system of the swimming pool at the hotel in question, with guests looking on in horror as the child suddenly became stuck.
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He had put his arm into the pool's suction hole, which was not covered. The vacuum effect from the hole trapped him up to his elbow, forcing staff at the Hotel Zafiro in Can Picafort, a resort in the north of the island, to call in the emergency services.
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The Mirror reports paramedics arrived first at the scene but were unable to free the boy, forcing firefighters to drain the pool and then use a pneumatic drill to reach a pipe leading to the hole.
The boy was given a helmet and ear protectors as they drilled down, before they eventually cut it off at the source around 30 minutes later and freed the boy.
Photographs from the scene show the boy in an orange cap waiting patiently as emergency workers attempt to get him out. Police and members of the Spanish Guardia Civil were also at the scene.
The boy was taken to a local clinic but thankfully did not sustain any serious injuries. Police later questioned the hotel's lifeguards, and one admitted that he had already reported issues with the suction system to the resort's management team.
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Euro Weekly reported a makeshift solution to the issue had seen them reinsert a screw to cover the hole, though this frequently came loose. An investigation into potential negligence by hotel management is now underway, local reports said.
It comes after hundreds of British holidaymakers were left stranded abroad after they were hit by a series of flight cancellations due to severe weather.
Some of those affected were families set to fly back to the UK from Majorca this week after jetting off to Spain for the half-term holidays - but have been hampered by delays caused by air traffic control restrictions.
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Airlines said the issue is out of their control. An easyJet spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, due to the impact of widespread thunderstorms across Northern Europe yesterday, some flights were unable to operate as planned.
"We did all we could to minimise the impact of the weather disruption on our customers, providing options to rebook or a refund their flights as well as providing hotel accommodation and meals for these who required them.
"The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet's highest priority and while this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused."