A four-year-old girl has died after drowning during a swimming lesson at a private nursery in Turkey, where the pool was deemed too deep for children and no lifeguard was on duty.
Berra Dizi was found floating motionless in the water at the nursery in Inegol, Bursa Province, on August 12. Staff pulled her from the pool and a nurse administered first aid before she was rushed to hospital, but she died in intensive care seven days later.
An investigation revealed the pool was 74 centimetres deep, exceeding the 50-centimetre safety limit for children's pools. There was no certified lifeguard present, and the swimming teacher was not in the pool at the time of the incident.
The nursery operator, E.B.O., was found primarily at fault, and the swimming teacher, N.T., secondarily at fault. The school claimed Berra suffered an epileptic fit, but her parents rejected this, stating she had been seizure-free for two years and had no ongoing illness.
Berra's parents were also listed as primarily at fault for not providing full medical history, a claim they described as deeply unfair. Her father criticised the expert panel, saying mechanical engineers had wrongly issued medical opinions instead of assessing safety failings.
The nursery remains open despite the ongoing investigation. Berra's mother said parents were told not to send children with arm floats that day and believes her daughter would still be alive if safety rules had been followed.
