A swimming pool can be a place to have fun, but safety precautions are very important. This week, an 8-year-old girl died after being sucked into a pipe at a hotel swimming pool in Houston, USA.
Aliyah Jaico died after being sucked into a swimming pool pipe at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in Houston, Texas.
Aliyah was reported missing by her family when she disappeared while swimming in a lazy river-style pool.
Her body was found about 13 hours later.
A search team was convened, including Tim Miller, founder of Texas-based EquuSearch. After draining the pool, they used a camera to discover Aliyah’s body in the pipes.
“We put the pole down about 20 feet down and we saw her little hands and part of her body, so we got the fire department back there. The pump seemed to appear,” Miller said, according to the New York Post The fault occurred because the open pipe she was plugged into was supposed to drain the water away. ”
“Right next to that tube, there’s another tube that actually has a big plastic filter like a screen on the front that’s supposed to absorb water. So I know there was a speculation last night from someone who knows a lot Guys, that’s all.” The pump was wired incorrectly. So it’s sucking rather than pushing,” he said.
“She was stuck in there very, very tight,” Miller said. “I don’t think she decided, ‘I’m going to swim out here and see what’s here.'”
“A lot of us had to wipe away tears,” he said of the search teams. “This is one of the saddest things we’ve seen in a long time.”
The process of finding the girl and recovering her body took about 13 hours.
An autopsy revealed Aliyah drowned and suffered “mechanical asphyxia” (when an object or physical force prevents you from breathing).
Investigators believe a malfunction may be to blame.
Legal Proceedings and Violations
Aliyah’s family filed a death lawsuit against the hotel and its parent company, alleging negligence and seeking more than $1 million in damages.
Aliyah’s parents believe the tragedy was “avoidable,” the post reported.
Following the incident, inspectors found multiple violations at the pool.
“After the pool was remodeled, the operator failed to obtain a pre-opening inspection before placing it in operation,” an investigator wrote in a three-page inspection report, the outlet reported.
Those include a lack of pre-opening inspections after the renovation and failure to comply with federal safety laws designed to prevent drownings.
The pool operator reportedly failed to provide documentation proving compliance with safety regulations.
Further investigation revealed that the approved pool renovation plan was inconsistent with the actual construction, particularly regarding the lazy river suction and return pipes.
Additionally, safety covers were missing from the pipe openings, which may have contributed to the accident.
Hilton calls the property “independently owned”
Hilton, the parent company of DoubleTree by Hilton, expressed its condolences to the family but clarified that the hotel is independently owned and operated by Unique Crowne Hospitality, the hotel’s local operator.
Unique Crowne Hospitality has not yet commented on the lawsuit, the post reported.
A Hilton spokesperson told ABC 7 in a statement, “Hilton would like to extend its sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of a young girl who was injured at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Brook Hollow in Houston,” the post reported.
“The property is independently owned and operated by a third party. Hilton does not own, manage or control the day-to-day operations of the hotel and does not employ any employees of the hotel or its third-party operators,” the spokesperson said.
Alia’s mother Daniela is heartbroken. She wrote in a social media post: “Thank you, my love, for being by my side for eight years. Thank you, my girl, for teaching me what love is and a noble heart.”
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