Two French sisters aged 17 and 20 drowned in a hotel pool in Rhodes on Wednesday evening, and an 8-year-old girl drowned in a hotel pool in Crete, police officials said on Thursday.
The sisters were found unconscious in one of the pools at a holiday complex on the island. They were taken to hospital by ambulance where their death was confirmed, one of the officials said.
The reasons for their death and the circumstances of the incident were still under investigation, however, the girls’ parents who were on holiday with their four children said both their daughters were unable to swim. According to the local paper "Rodiaki", one died trying to rescue the other.
Tourism Minister Charis Theocharis expressed his and the prime minister's condolences over the tragic death of the girls and said the ministry is overseeing developments. Theocharis has also spoken with the Rhodes police chief, while a regional tourism official of the Dodecanese district will travel to the island in person to investigate.
According to local media, the 8-year-old girl in Heraklion, Crete, tragically died in a pool in front of her parents and other tourists on Wednesday.
Two women foreign nationals, 42 and 56 years of age, were arrested on Thursday evening in connection with the death of the eight-year-old girl from Israel, who was vacationing with her family and drowned in a hotel pool in Chersonissos, east of Iraklio on Crete, shortly after 18.30 on Wednesday evening.
The two women were allegedly in positions of responsibility when the fatal event occured.
According to officials, three doctors tried to resuscitate her for 20 minutes, while the efforts continued at the emergency department of the hospital she was transferred to, unfortunately, the girl was not able to survive.
