Child drowns in French hotel swimming pool near Disneyland Paris

A five-year-old child has drowned in the unsupervised pool of a hotel near Disneyland Resort Paris.

Colum Canning from Londonderry in Northern Ireland had just arrived at the Explorers Hotel with his parents, seven-year-old sister and twin brother on Friday when it is believed he wandered away from his family and fell into the pool.

Although he was quickly discovered, Canning was unconscious when he was pulled from the pool and his parents made the decision to turn off his life support unit on Saturday.

The family had gone to the Thomas Cook-owned resort to celebrate Christmas and the twins' birthday on Boxing Day. They had only been in the resort for an hour when the accident happened.

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the Canning family at this very difficult time.

"Our staff are doing everything they can to provide support to the family and we have sent a company representative and a trained counsellor to be with them until they return home."

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By Daniel Thomas

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