The circumstances of the 8-year-old girl’s drowning in a camping pool in Halkidiki are still being investigated by authorities, while the legal representative is still being sought.
According to information from ANT1, the little girl seems to have died while other children were swimming in the pool, while there was a lifeguard and the group leader in the area.
Angeliki had gone to the camp with her sister. The two little girls entered the pool together, as did other campers, but the 8-year-old girl never seems to have gotten out of the water, as her sister never saw her afterwards, neither in the dining hall, where they went to eat, nor in the dorms.
A second piece of evidence that supports, this possibility, is that according to the forensic report the child’s stomach was empty, meaning he did not sit down for lunch with the others. The EMS rescuers who made resuscitation efforts at the scene found that there were remnants of food, but it was probably breakfast.
The group leader reportedly testified to police how she did not count the children when they came out of the water and how she noticed the 8-year-old’s absence in the dining hall and began searching for her on her own, without alerting the camp, which is evident from the official announcement of the operation.
Specifically, the statement said that “after lunch was completed and the campers were in their rooms for their midday rest, it was discovered that a camper was missing. Camp headquarters was immediately notified and a team of staff members began searching for her.”
In her statement, the lifeguard claimed she did not see anyone in the water at around 1:00 pm. The alarm at the camp went off just before 3 p.m., nearly two hours later.
“As soon as the kids finished swimming – about 1:15 p.m. according to the schedule – I looked into the pool. I didn’t see anyone in it and then I locked the double entrance door,” she allegedly said in her statement, as reported by the Star.
Father of 8-year-old: I fear child may have drowned while swimming with other children
Grief and deep sadness dominated the funeral of the 8-year-old girl found dead in a camping pool in Halkidiki. Scenes of ancient tragedy unfolded in the Church of St. Nicholas in Xirokrini, where the parents and close relatives of the girl could not realize the unspeakable tragedy that struck them.
The unfortunate child’s grandmother, who works for the Municipality of Thessaloniki, could not hide her grief and anger. “We sent our child to enjoy her holidays with her friends and they brought her back dead,” she told thesstoday.gr with tears in her eyes. People close to the family stressed the great responsibility one has when looking after children, which shows the seriousness of the situation.
“I don’t know if there was supervision. We have not been told anything by the camp. I’m afraid that the child may have drowned while swimming with the other children and they didn’t realize it at the time, but much later,” the girl’s father noted for his part, speaking to “Alpha”.
The grandfather has broken out while speaking to the Star. The child was in the pool for a long time and no one saw her, he claims, citing that the 8-year-old’s sister had been looking for her for a long time.
“They should be punished. We still have no information, absolutely none. No updates, no interest though I’ll boil it down to their interest.”
Our child may have been drowned downstairs and no one saw it. That’s the suspicion I have. Because her sister, she’s older, was with her. Her sister was looking for her for quite some time. And the other children are resentful and say, “We have to find Angelicula.” Angelica is gone. She wasn’t in the dining room either, they claim. She never went to lunch. Everything they claim is a lie to cover themselves. It will all come out,” claims the grandfather of the deceased girl.
Already, the 19-year-old group leader who was responsible for supervising the child and the 34-year-old camp counselor have been arrested and the case has been filed for manslaughter by negligence. Both were released on the oral order of a prosecutor until the trial, while the ELAS is looking for the legal representative of the camp to arrest him under the auto-custody.
The operating permits for the two swimming pools of the camp have been revoked by the Municipality of Kassandra.
In an inspection it was found that part of the fence in one was missing, while in the second there were no life jackets, nor markings for the depths.
