The grief-stricken parents of a five-year-old girl who drowned in Egypt were flying home last night as a row intensified over who was to blame for her death.
Chloe Johnson was reportedly left by a shallow toddler pool in Sharm el-Sheikh for a few minutes while her parents fetched her a drink.
She drowned in another pool with a wave machine, which her parents, Sarah Thompson and Tony Johnson, say was not manned by lifeguards.
Tragic: Chloe Johnson died in a hotel wave pool when her parents left to fetch a drink
Anger: Chloe’s parents have expressed their anger at the lack of lifeguards at the hotel
Miss Thompson, 32, told a Sunday newspaper: ‘She was playing with her little friend. I explained to her twice, called her, told her exactly where we were before we went to get a drink.
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‘She went to the wave pool, which was supposed to be manned by two lifeguards, but there were none there. I was walking around with her drink… looking for her, calling for her… The pool wasn’t monitored while there were waves going on.’
But Egyptian prosecutors said safety instructions at the hotel state that ‘children five years old and under must only use the pool under the supervision of their relatives’. They confirmed the couple had told police that a lifeguard was neglectful and had accused him of being the ‘cause of their daughter’s death’.
Devastated: Chloe’s grandparents spoke of their loss shortly after her death
Heartbroken: They spoke of their anger at the lack of help the family received in Sharm el Sheik
They said the family did not come forward to be formally interviewed, meaning investigators had to rely solely on accounts given by lifeguards and the hotel. It is not clear whether the couple were aware they had to make an official report.
Maged Ramzy, of Sharm el-Sheikh Prosecution Office said a lifeguard accused of neglecting the young girl was released yesterday, while an investigation is carried out.
Miss Thompson, of Forest Hill, south London, paid tribute to her ‘cheeky, beautiful, vibrant’ daughter, who survived open heart surgery at two days old and was on her first holiday abroad. She said: ‘I am just empty without her.’
Probe: First Choice said it would carry out a ‘full and thorough investigation’ in partnership with the hotelier
Heartache: The youngster died in a pool at the Coral Sea Waterworld hotel. File picture.
The distraught mother said staff at the Coral Sea Waterworld hotel initially did nothing to try to revive Chloe, leaving her father to attempt mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as they waited for emergency services.
Mr Ramzy added: ‘According to the prosecution’s investigations, the father was with her in the pool when she [was found] drowned and the lifeguards arrived to her within five seconds.’
Egypt’s Chamber of Diving and Watersports is investigating whether safety instructions were shown clearly and whether the lifeguard was to blame or not.
Grandparents April and Gordon Johnson, said the family felt ‘angry and so hurt’.