8-year-old drowns while playing in swimming pool in Ambattur

CHENNAI: An eight-year-old girl drowned in the swimming pool of an apartment complex in Ambattur on Saturday. The victim was identified as Thananya, daughter of Balaji and Kanmani.

She was a Class 3 student at a private school and lived with her parents at Banu nagar (west) in Ambattur. Police said that Thananya along with her mother had visited the apartment of a classmate on Saturday evening for dinner.

The girls' mothers became friends while dropping their children in school. On Saturday evening, their mothers, Kanmani and Sindhuja were chatting by the common pool area in the apartment complex, when the children insisted on playing in the pool.

Around 5 pm, Thananya, her friend, Kanushya and her brother got into the pool. Police said that the children used swimming floats and the parents were standing outside, keeping a watch on them from time to time. However, about 30 minutes after the children got into the water, Kanushya started crying for help after which their mothers rushed. Security personnel were alerted and the girl was fished out from the pool and moved to a private hospital, where she was declared brought dead.

On information, Ambattur estate police registered a case and secured the child’s body and sent it to government hospital for autopsy.