Girl, 7, drowns in hot tub in northern Israel guesthouse
Family tries to save child under phone instructions in Yarka, before she is declared dead in the hospital
A seven-year-old girl drowned Sunday in a hot tub at a vacation home in northern Israel, after medics took her to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
According to the Magen David Adom ambulance service, the parents found the girl unconscious in the hot tub at the guesthouse in the town of Yarka, where the family arrived earlier in the day.
“We were right next to the place and we arrived and saw a girl next to the hot tub, unconscious and without vital signs, with family members performing basic CPR under phone instructions from MDA,” said medic Khatib Shehadeh.
“I immediately began advanced CPR together with the intensive care team that arrived quickly,” he added. “The resuscitation efforts continued on the way to the hospital.”
The girl was taken to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, but doctors there declared her dead within minutes.
“We share the family’s grief and embrace them during their tough time,” the hospital said in a statement.
Yarka Mayor Wahib Habish called it a “terrible tragedy,” saying the local council shared the family’s grief and would help with anything needed.
The owner of the resort, which includes six guesthouses, gave testimony to the police.
A spate of deadly drownings has been seen in the past few months, often at private pools or unsupervised beaches without a lifeguard while Israelis vacation during the summer break.
Last month, a baby boy died a day after a drowning incident in a pool in Safed.
In July, a 5-year-old boy from Umm al-Fahm was declared dead after a drowning incident at the Nahal Kibbutzim stream near Beit She’an. An 18-year-old girl and her father drowned the same day.
According to figures released in August by MDA, 31 people in Israel died so far in drowning incidents this summer, out of close to 200 who had been treated for near-drownings. According to the Beterem child safety organization, 15 of the dead were children.
The National Council for the Child said earlier this year that 35 children died during the summer break of 2020, compared to 20 in 2019. Of those 35, 10 had died in drowning incidents.
