Freddie Joseph Briggs: British toddler drowns in swimming pool on the Costa Blanca in Spain

A British toddler has drowned in a swimming pool on the Costa Blanca in Spain.

Freddie Joseph Briggs, who was just 19 months old, was pulled out of the water unconscious on Wednesday (25 May) at around 6.15pm.

An air ambulance was sent to the incident at a private pool in Aigues, a small village located north of Alicante and southwest of Benidorm, as a neighbour tried to save the tot’s life.

Efforts to revive Freddie were tragically unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesman for a regional government emergency response coordination centre said: "At 6.15pm on Wednesday, we were informed a little boy had been pulled out of a private swimming pool in Aigues.

"We mobilised an air ambulance and a basic life support ambulance. A neighbour performed resuscitation techniques until the medical response teams arrived.

"Once they were there, the medical responders continued with advanced CPR and other resuscitation techniques but they were unable to save the child, a 19-month-old toddler who was pronounced dead at the scene."

The incident occured at a private residential estate called El Paraiso in Aigues and the village has just under 1,000 inhabitants, according to a 2020 census.

Aigues Town Hall said on Thursday (26 May): “The news of the death yesterday of the little boy Freddie Joseph Briggs has saddened and moved locals living in Aigues.

“As a show of our pain and solidarity with the child’s parents and other relatives, we are declaring three days of mourning starting tomorrow.”

It has not yet been established if the toddler was on holiday with his family or if he lived in Spain.

A routine police investigation into the tragedy is ongoing.

A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office added: "We are supporting the family of a British child, who has died in Spain. Our thoughts are with the family at this very sad time."

Two other deaths in the area

Freddie’s death comes after a British woman, Ingrid Dale, 67, originally from Norfolk, died after suffering an allergic reaction to a wasp sting at a restaurant on 9 May in the coastal town of Moraira, around 30 minutes north of Benidorm.

Ms Dale died in an ambulance outside the Hill Top Sports bar & Grill after going into cardiac arrest before she could be taken to hospital.

On the same day, a British man, Paul Lebihan, 24, originally from Gateshead, drowned in a river at a beauty spot close to Benidorm while trying to save his dog.