Dublin toddler drowns in Spanish tragedy

THE 22-month-old daughter of an Irish couple living in Spain, who drowned after falling into a swimming pool, has been named as Lucy Bennett who was originally from Dublin.

The accident happened on Sunday afternoon as the child’s parents were enjoying an afternoon nap.

The toddler was thought to have lost her balance as she walked round the edge of the pool at her parents’ beachside villa residence in El Campello, near Alicante.

Paramedics raced to the scene along with local police officers and civil guard officers after a call from the girl’s parents.

But all efforts to revive the victim failed and a doctor pronounced her dead at the scene. A judge has now taken charge of an investigation into the tragedy.

A spokesman for the civil guard in Alicante said yesterday: “We can confirm the girl who drowned in a swimming pool near Alicante was Irish. She was two years old (sic) and was born in Dublin.

“There is nothing to indicate foul play at this stage. Everything is pointing to the child’s death being the result of a tragic accident.”

Under Spanish law the matter will be investigated by a team headed by a local judge and the parents will be interviewed as part of that process, the police spokesman said.

The villa where the accident happened is near a beach known locally as Muchavista Beach, north of Alicante, which is popular with Spanish holidaymakers.

Irish and British families traditionally holiday further south along the Costa Blanca but have started to flock to the area in recent years.

Meanwhile, the funeral of a woman who died in a drowning accident in the US took place in Limerick yesterday.

Anita O’Donnell, 32, worked as a bar manager in Boston.

She drowned when on a weekend break in Albany.

She is survived by her parents, Christy and Marie who live in Corbally, brother Mark and sister Nicola.

Anita worked in Tralee before emigrating to Boston where she managed a bar.