Two owners of the Segesta beach club in Sestri Levante have been placed under investigation for manslaughter following the death of 11-year-old Alice Ferrari, whose hair was pulled into a pool filtration pump. The girl, a resident of Suisio in the province of Bergamo, died at Genoa's Gaslini hospital after the incident at the Ligurian resort.
Prosecutors found that a required warning sign barring unaccompanied children under 12 from the pool was missing, according to an inspection by the Santa Margherita Ligure coast guard. The small, roughly one-metre-deep pool did not require a lifeguard. The child was momentarily alone while her parents were preparing to leave when her hair became trapped in the drain. A club owner cut her hair free with a knife, but she was already critically injured.
Prosecutor Fabrizio Givri has ordered an autopsy to be carried out on Tuesday, to be performed by forensic doctor Sara Lo Pinto. Organ donation will follow, as requested by the family.