8-year-old girl in US dies after being “violently pulled” into hotel pool pipe

An 8-year-old girl in the United States died on Saturday after becoming “violently entangled” in a large pipe while swimming at a hotel in Houston, Texas, according to a lawsuit filed by the victim’s family. Aliyah Jacko was swimming with her family in a lazy river at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow Hotel when she suddenly disappeared, Fox News informed of. Her body was found hours later “inside a large pipe in the pool area,” Houston police said in a statement.

“Her little body was mutilated when she was pulled 20 feet back into this hole and pipe,” Richard Nava, a lawyer representing the family, told reporters at a news conference. “They had to break concrete and cut pipes to get it out… it was absolutely horrific,” Mr Nava said. Fox News,

The lawsuit states that the young girl was suddenly pulled into an unsecured 12 to 16-inch open gap in the swimming pool flow system. When she initially disappeared, her family had no idea where she had gone, leading to their search. According to the police, he was reported missing around 5:45 pm on Saturday evening. She was found around 11:30 pm and pronounced dead by paramedics, police said, adding that they were “continuing to investigate the incident”.

The family filed a lawsuit earlier this week seeking $1 million in damages for wrongful death. According to the lawsuit, the 8-year-old girl “loved to swim” and her mother, Jose Daniela Jaco Ahumada, had rented a room at the hotel that day “to enjoy a day of swimming with her family.”

“It took the fire department 13 hours to actually remove his physical body from the pipe,” said Justin Martinez, communications representative for Nava Law Group and the Jaco family. Washington Post,

Separately, Mr Nava said there was “an issue with the flow of water” inside the pool which led to what Aliyah described as “unsafe open gaps”. He said the hole was about 12 to 16 inches wide and the fire department had to “break” the concrete pipe to extract the body of the 8-year-old boy.

“We are demanding justice for Aliyah, because this could have been avoided,” Mr Nava said. He said Aliyah’s loved ones are “devastated” by her death.

According to the lawsuit, the hotel is operated by Unique Crown Hospitality LLC.

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in a statement to PostA Hilton spokesperson said the company was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of a young girl”. But it also said the property is “independently owned and operated by a third party”. Hilton stated that it “does not own, manage or control the daily operations of the property and does not employ any employees of the property or its third-party operators”.

A spokesperson for Unique Crown Hospitality said the company is “deeply saddened” by Aliyah’s death. “We offer our sincere and deepest condolences to his family and loved ones at this difficult time,” the statement said. It added, “Our commitment to providing a safe environment for our guests is paramount and we continue to cooperate fully with all authorities investigating this incident.”