Father blames negligence for girl's drowning at Mechtа resort

The father of 12-year-old Alyona (name changed), who drowned in the pool of the Mechtа country hotel, has accused the management of negligence. In a conversation with NGS55.RU, he revealed new details of the tragedy and described how the resort«s employees behaved after the incident.

«They«ll find you in the morning if you drown»

On the day of the incident, Alyona came to the pool with her mother and younger brother. The instructor, who also works as a banya attendant, took the adults away to the steam room. Only the children remained at the water — and, according to the father, no one was watching them.

«He [the instructor] was performing his other job at that moment; he was a steam-room attendant. And the child spent 11 minutes underwater, and no one was able to save her. There were people nearby, they wanted to pull her out, but they couldn«t switch it off, they didn»t know where the pump shuts off. They ran for scissors to cut her hair, and all that time was lost. No one knew where the emergency shut-off button for this dangerous pump was, as it turned out. No instruction is ever given. We were there the day before; I swam there with the children myself, we came in calmly at 11 p.m., and there was no one at all. You walk into the pool and you«re completely alone, you do whatever you like there. They»ll find you in the morning, probably, if you drown».

According to the man, the drain into which the girl«s hair was pulled was not working properly. The day before the tragedy, his 9-year-old son complained that he was literally being pulled toward the pool»s sides.

«He says: „When I swam close by, the current just carried me right toward it“. His leg got pinned, and he was able to pull it free because there are handrails on top, those chrome handles. He held on to them. But if you dive down, there«s nothing to hold on to. That»s the situation she ended up in — she dived and couldn«t swim out. It»s just negligence, I have no words. When I came to collect the body in the evening, I see the staff draining the water, and one says to the other: „We«ll clean it up quickly now, refill it and let people back in“».

According to Andrei, the hotel has no medical worker at all. It was vacationers who pulled the child out, and they also provided first aid. But 11 minutes underwater is too long.

«When I ran over, I saw what had happened. Some unfamiliar man, just a vacationer who happened to be there, was trying to resuscitate my child. When I saw the dead child, I just collapsed for about half an hour — I don«t remember anything. Some man was telling me how it all happened. I was in such shock. They tried to pull her out, but her hair had already been pulled in, there was no emergency button — there has to be some button to shut off the pump».

Hotel management offered no condolences

After the tragedy, the family received neither a call nor a word of sympathy from the management of Mechtа. The exception was the head of security, who expressed condolences. The father has no complaints about the administrators.

«No call from management, you know — condolences, something, they could have offered some help, probably, right? Nothing, just zero. I have no questions for the administrators; they are trying their best. I just gathered that they are cutting costs on people, cutting costs on staff. <…> I was told that while it was all happening, the administrator was running around shouting: „Get scissors“. She was shouting to hurry up. She was reprimanded for it afterwards. The bosses arrived and said she was creating panic on the hotel grounds so that the other guests wouldn«t find out anything».

According to Andrei, Wi-Fi disappeared at the hotel after the tragedy. He believes management deliberately cut off the internet to hide what happened from other guests.

Investigators have opened a criminal case into the girl«s death.

The NGS55.RU editorial team expresses its condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased child.