The tragedy unfolded at Club La Costa World at around 1.30pm when a nine-year-old girl got into difficulty in a swimming pool and her 16-year-old brother and 52-year-old father jumped in to help her. Police conducted an investigation at the site a short drive from Fuengirola and gave the pool the all-clear before it was reopened for holidaymakers. Witness Josias Fletchman, 35, was returning to his apartment when he saw staff pulling three bodies out of the water.
He told The Mirror the mother remained composed and prayed as she watched others try to resuscitate her husband and kids.
The father-of-three said: “She was calm. She was touching their bodies. She continued praying even after the ambulance people arrived and had stopped trying to revive them.
“She exercised her faith to the limit. I was performing CPR on her husband but I’m a believer and I prayed as well.
“She strengthened me in the way she reacted. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
A holidaymaker at the hotel told the PA news agency she saw “bodies covered in white sheets” by the pool, and could hear “a woman crying aloud”.
Tanya Aamer, 23, from Birmingham, said: “The atmosphere as I was walking past is indescribable.
“Obviously we’ve never been in that situation before so we kind of, just began walking slowly in a slight state of confusion as to what we’re witnessing, and eventually when we got to the bottom it was just silent, no talking or anything.”
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Local reports said Spanish police were investigating the pump and suction system for a possible failure, but inquiries have found “no concerns relating to the pool in question”, said operator CLC World Resorts and Hotels.
In a statement it said: “The Guardia Civil have carried out a full investigation which found no concerns relating to the pool in question or procedures in place, which leaves us to believe this was a tragic accident which has left everyone surrounding the incident in shock.
“Naturally, our primary concern remains the care and support of the remaining family members; we would therefore request that their privacy be respected at this traumatic time.”
CLC World Resorts and Hotels also said: “All at Club La Costa World resort are devastated by the tragedy that unfolded on Tuesday, where a father and his two children were found unresponsive in a swimming pool and, despite the best efforts of our first response team and the emergency services, could not be revived.
“The management are assisting the authorities fully with their investigation into the deaths.
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are offering assistance to a British woman following an incident in Spain.”