ALOR GAJAH: A day of family fun turned tragic after an eight-year-old girl drowned in a swimming pool at a water theme park here yesterday.
The victim was confirmed dead when she was rushed to Alor Gajah Hospital's emergency department.
Alor Gajah district police chief Superintendent Arshad Abu said they received a call from the hospital's emergency department over the incident at 3.15pm.
"Preliminary investigation showed the incident occurred at the side of the pool near a man made aisle which was about a metre (m) deep.
"When the incident happened, the park's personnel carried out first aid and thereafter took the victim to hospital for further medical attention and treatment," he said.
Arshad said the victim and her family had gone from Kota Tinggi, Johor, for a family trip to the water park during school holidays together with the community from the housing area where they live.
"We were informed by the programme committee's chairperson that the family came together with a large entourage of 78 other families and arrived at the waterpark at around 11am yesterday before proceeding to swim and play in the water.
"It was supposed to be a one-day programme for the communty and they were not staying overnight," he said.
Arshad said from the post-mortem that was carried out by the hospital's forensics department, the victim's cause of death had been classified as 'consistent with drowning'.