A six-year-old boy has drowned in a villa swimming pool in the southern Greek coastal town of Gialova while his mother worked as a cleaner at the property, in a tragedy that has left the woman hospitalised in severe shock.
By Katia Niakari
The child slipped away from his 32-year-old Albanian mother's supervision shortly after 3:15pm as she cleaned the premises alongside another woman.
When she realised her son was missing, he was found unconscious in the water.
The two women pulled the boy from the pool and called emergency services.
Paramedics from the National Emergency Aid Center arrived quickly and performed CPR at the scene before rushing the child to the nearby Pylos Health Centre, where doctors pronounced him dead despite prolonged resuscitation efforts.
The mother remains hospitalised and has been unable to give a statement to investigators. Though Greek law typically requires the immediate arrest of a parent or guardian on charges of exposing a minor to fatal danger, a local prosecutor temporarily suspended the arrest order given her critical psychological state.
The Pylos Police Department has launched a preliminary investigation into the exact circumstances of the drowning, and a forensic autopsy has been ordered.
The boy's death adds to a mounting toll of summer tragedies in Greece and throws a harsh spotlight on the dangers of unguarded swimming pools as the country enters its peak tourist season — and the particular vulnerability of children whose parents work at private properties where no formal supervision is in place.