Costa del Sol: Man and two children who drowned at resort named

[PranKk.]

A British man and his two children who drowned in a resort swimming pool on the Costa del Sol on Christmas Eve have been named by Spanish police.

Gabriel Diya, 52, his daughter Comfort Diya, 9, and his son Praise-Emmanuel Diya, 16, died in the pool at Club La Costa World, near Fuengirola.

Police say they are checking claims the young girl got into difficulties and the other two died trying to save her.

The church where Mr Diya was a pastor has paid tribute to him on Facebook.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) said in a post: "With heavy hearts, we extend our condolences to the family, parish, friends and associates of Area Pastor Gabriel Diya who sadly passed away, along with two of his children... in a tragic incident while on a family holiday in Spain."

"At this very difficult time, our prayers are for Pastor Gabriel Diya's family, the parishes that were under his supervision, friends, associates, members of RCCG and the general public," the post added.

The church said Mr Diya was also the parish pastor at Open Heavens, a Christian religious group with origins in Nigeria, based in Charlton, south east London, and he was survived by his wife, assistant pastor Olubunmi Diya, and another daughter.

Police said divers retrieved Comfort's swimming hat from the pool pump.

But they said that investigators had found nothing wrong with the pool, which has since reopened.

Because the pool is a very small one, lifeguards were "not necessary" so there were none present, a spokesman for the Spanish Civil Guard told the BBC.

The hotel owners described the incident as a "tragic accident".

The UK Foreign Office said it was supporting a British woman in Spain, thought to be the children's mother.

Man and children drowned 'in tragic accident'
Three members of same family 'drown' at resort
The father and daughter were both British passport holders while the brother had an American passport.

In a statement released on Christmas Day the owners of Club La Costa World said: "The Guardia Civil have carried out a full investigation which found no concerns relating to the pool in question or procedures in place, which leaves us to believe this was a tragic accident which has left everyone surrounding the incident in shock.

"Naturally, our primary concern remains the care and support of the remaining family members."

Locally-based freelance journalist Gerard Couzens said that the hotel had confirmed it had reopened the pool after it was given permission to do so by police.

"The message from the hotel is very clear. They were given permission to reopen the pool by the police yesterday," he told BBC Breakfast.

"That pool where this terrible tragedy occurred on Christmas Eve is open for use again. And the management are saying the police have given the pool a clean bill of health."

Local journalist Fernando Torres told the BBC it was a shocking scene.

"The resort workers heard the screaming and they tried to do CPR [resuscitation] as well, but they couldn't help them," he said.

"Then the emergency doctors came and they tried for 30-35 minutes, but they couldn't revive them."