Laurence Dollimore
A COURT in Spain has ordered an investigation into the death of a British girl in a swimming pool.
Sofia Draper (pictured above) was just nine years old when she became trapped on the floor of her grandfather’s swimming pool in Girona on March 31 last year.
The tragic Brit had become stuck by the powerful suction system of the pool, situated in the family’s villa in Playa de Aro on the Costa Brava.
Just four days after her death, a court in Sant Feliu closed the case and declared it an accident.
However Sofia’s parents, Julian and Olga Draper, immediately launched an appeal and have been fighting to reopen the investigation ever since, reports El Periodico.
This week, a Girona Court granted them their wish and ordered an investigation.
The probe aims to clarify whether the builder of the pool or the maintenance technician committed a reckless act by not complying with the regulations when fitting the suction plate.
Sofia’s grandfather was reportedly filming his two grandchildren diving into his pool when he realised Sofia had not resurfaced.
She had been gliding along the bottom of the pool when her chest suddenly became trapped by the suction power of the filter grid.
Her grandfather and neighbour were eventually able to pull her out of the water, but several minutes had passed and she tragically drowned.
Her mother Olga told El Periodico: “It was very dangerous equipment that we had at home and nobody warned us.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that another family does not find themselves in the same situation as us.”
According to the lawyers of Sofia’s parents, the pool’s suction system was operating at roughly 1.5 metres per second, when the norm sets the limit at 0.5 metres per second.
Additionally, regulations state that if there is only one suction system with a single grid, as was the case, swimmers must not be able to cover more than 50% of the grid’s opening with their body.
The grid must also be raised in a dome shape ‘contrary to the direction of water flow and with a peripheral suction’. In the pool where Sofia died, none of these requirements were met.
Sofia, who weighed around 30kg, was found to have a clear, circular bruise on her chest measuring up to 30cm in diameter, according to the Mossos d’Esquadra police force.
