12-year-old girl drowns in hotel swimming pool

A 12-year-old girl, Nor Alyaa Zafiran Mohd Fazlan, is believed to have drowned in a swimming pool at a hotel near here when attending a programme organised by her school.

The victim's father Mohd Fazlan Mohd Hashim, 37, said the incident took place after the programme organised by Sekolah Kebangsaan Khir Johari here from 8am to 5.30pm at the Sungai Petani Inn.

Mohd Fazlan, who was also at the hotel with his six-year-old daughter, said the victim was allowed by her coordinating teacher to swim at the pool from 5.30pm to 6pm.

"However, my daughter was not satisfied at the short time in the pool and I sought the permission from her teacher for her to continue swimming at the pool. I told my daughter she had to come out at 6.45pm.

"My daughter and her three friends went into the pool and believed to have gone to the deep end of the pool. Her three friends back-pedalled as they became anxious upon seeing my daughter struggling in the pool. At the same time, they also thought she was pretending to be drowning," he told Bernama.

Mohd Fazlan said he realised her daughter had spent too much time in the pool and went looking for her, and was told of the incident by her friends.

"My daughter was found at 7pm in the pool. I and several other people tried to save her by giving first aid, including pressing her chest but she was already dead," he said.

Meanwhile, a teacher of the school said almost 60 students had attended the 'Celik Minda' programme, organised every year to teach techniques to answer questions for examinations.

As usual the pupils would be allowed to use the swimming pool at the end of the programme but not all went into the pool because most of them had decided to go home with their parents after the programme had ended. - BERNAMA