Child Drowns In Pool At Art Of Animation Resort At Walt Disney World
There’s tragic news from Orlando this evening as a young child drowned in a pool at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in Walt Disney World.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, a 7-year-old child drowned on Tuesday evening in a pool at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. It was not immediately clear which one of the three pools the child drowned in.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office reported that the child was found in the pool shortly before 8 p.m. ET. A short time later, the child, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Not a lot of details are known at this time, but deputies did report that the child was visiting from out of town with his family. At some point, the young boy got separated from his parents and they began a search to find him.
After a little while, the child was discovered underwater in the pool.
UPDATE: WESH is reporting that the child was a three-year-old boy and not a seven-year-old, but the name of the family has still not been released. The family was said to be visiting from New York.
UPDATE #2: Information has come out that it was the main pool at the resort and it has remained closed through the evening. Lifeguards and others seen around the area were said to be crying and very shaken up, per a source for Inquisitr.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort does have three pools available for guests with one in the Cars-themed section called the Cozy Cone Pool and the Flippin’ Fins Pool over in The Little Mermaid-themed section.
The resort does also boast the largest resort pool in all of Walt Disney World. The Big Blue Pool is themed after the Pixar film Finding Nemo and sits in the center of the resort.
Lifeguards are on duty at all pools around Walt Disney World property, but are not there all night.When lifeguards are not on duty, there are signs posted saying that pools are closed or that guests can swim at their own risk.
It is unknown if lifeguards were on duty at the time of the child’s drowning.
A couple of years ago, a 13-year-old boy drowned after being found underwater in the Hippy Dippy Pool at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. The teen was swimming with his family at the time and they lost sight of him, so they also had begun a search.
A short time later, the teen’s cousin saw him at the bottom of the pool and he was pulled out by some bystanders. The boy was taken to an Orlando-area hospital where he was pronounced dead later in the day.
Back in February, an American adult male drowned at Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay. He was swimming in the adults-only area known as Serenity Bay, which did not have lifeguards on duty at the time. Disney has since placed lifeguards there daily.
The information on the 7-year-old boy who drowned at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort is very little at this time, but the family may also be requesting privacy in the matter. Representatives for Walt Disney World have not yet issued a statement.
[Image via Disney/Trip Advisor]
