Little boy drowns in family pool

A little boy from Russia died on Saturday after doctors were unable to revive him following an apparent drowning incident at the family’s home swimming pool in Paphos.

According to local media, the father of a 3-year-old boy found his son unconscious in the water on Saturday afternoon in the family’s private swimming pool in Argaka, Paphos district.

Reports said the parents and two siblings of the little boy were at home in the Russian family’s permanent residence during the incident, while the 3-year-old was thought to have been in his room.

But when it was discovered that the boy was not in his room, members of the family went frantically looking for him until the dad spotted his son in the water.

The father pulled the boy out of the water and a doctor as well as an ambulance were called to the scene, with emergency medics trying to resuscitate but to no avail. The boy was then rushed to the Emergency Room at the state hospital in Polis Chrysochous, where doctors reportedly found a pulse and made use of a hospital defibrillator to bring the boy around.

Doctors were said to have been making non-stop resuscitation atemtps until 7pm, when their efforts proved unproductive and the boy passed away.

Media sources said it was not clear how the boy ended up being unsupervised or how long he had been underwater before his dad got to him.

Medical experts say brain damage begins to occur after about five minutes of oxygen deprivation. Children that are rescued and have their breathing restored quickly, within the first few minutes, are known typically to recover without brain damage.

Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children aged between 1 and 4, according to medical sources.