Police are examining the pump system of a Costa del Sol resort swimming pool in which a British father and two children died.
They are reported to be a nine-year-old girl, her father, 52 and her older brother, 16.
They were found unresponsive in the pool at Club La Costa World on Christmas Eve.
It is understood that the father and daughter are both British, while the son is American.
The incident occurred after the girl got into difficulties in the water and her brother and father tried to rescue her, it has been reported.
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The children’s mother is one of the people who raised the alarm. Local radio host Giles Brown told Sky News she is receiving counselling from Spanish police.
He said the family were booked into the resort on 21 December and were due to fly back out on 28 December.
“Detectives have taken away the pump system, looking at motors to see if it was an electrical or mechanical failure, but at the moment there is no information on what could have caused this tragedy,” he said.
Holiday operator CLC World Resorts and Hotels said management were assisting authorities “fully” with an investigation into the deaths.
Club La Costa World is near the town of Fuengirola, around 20 miles south of Malaga.
The holiday operator’s statement said: “Management at Club La Costa World resort would like to offer its heartfelt condolences to the family affected by the loss of three family members on 24 December 2019.
“The guests were found unresponsive in one of the resort’s pools. First response teams and emergency services attended and administered first aid.
“The management are assisting the authorities fully with their investigation into the deaths.
“We would like to thank our first response team and the emergency services for their quick and appropriate responses, and our staff for the continuing support of the family at this difficult time.”
A holidaymaker staying at the resort said she saw “bodies covered in white sheets” by the side of 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 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.”
Dennis Greenwood, a resident at the same resort, told Sky News the pool was “not very large”.
“I was really surprised last night when we heard what happened there because all the pools and the maintenance here is absolutely superb,” he said.
“I can’t understand how something as tragic as that could happen. All my family and grandchildren come here… We’ve always felt it’s safe in the pools.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are offering assistance to a British woman following an incident in Spain.”
If the pool pump was involved, it would not be the first tragedy of its kind.
In 2009, British schoolboy Nathan Clark drowned at a Thai water park after apparently being sucked into a pool’s pumping system.
And a 12-year-old Russian girl died after she was reportedly trapped underwater when her arm was sucked into a swimming pool pump at a Turkish resort last summer.
