Tragedy as toddler dies after 'slipping from dad's arms going down slide' at waterpark

A toddler has died after reportedly "slipping" from her dad's arms going down a slide at a waterpark.

The 21-month-old girl, from Germany, was airlifted to hospital but, despite the best efforts of medics, she succumbed to her brain and internal organ injuries. These were sustained at the Aquagan waterpark in Lopar, Croatia, where it is understood the girl slipped from her dad's arms and fell from a height of about three and a half meters onto a concrete floor.

Witnesses told local media they heard commotion at the waterpark, and staff and emergency services descended on a section of the attraction. Lopar's Mayor said the community has been left "extremely shaken" following the tragedy, thought to have been the first major accident at the waterpark in 20 years.

Speaking after the accident on Tuesday afternoon, one witness said: "The waiter had just brought me coffee. When we heard crying and shouting, we thought the child had drowned. Then we saw a man carrying the child on the side. A doctor from Slovenia happened to be there and immediately came to help." CPR was performed for several minutes, it is understood, before the toddler was rushed to Rijeka Hospital in a helicopter.

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The youngster was transferred to the Rijeka Hospital Clinical Centre, which said in a statement today: "Despite prompt care, multiple interventions and intensive treatment, the child died in the morning hours."

Zdenko Jakuc, who is Lopar's Mayor, said: "It is an understatement to say that we are all extremely shaken. When the helicopter landed, everything stopped. We all looked at the sky and hoped for the best."

A spoksperson for Lopar tourist board said: "This park has been operating for years, nothing like this has ever been recorded. Lopar is a place that is perceived as safe, peaceful, and ideal for families with small children."

When a group of students piled onto the 40ft-high Banzai Pipeline slide at Waterworld USA in Concord, California, a section of the slide collapsed under their weight, and the youngsters were sent crashing to the ground.

Justin Aaron, an English teacher at the school who was grading papers at the base of the slide at the time of the incident, recalled: "I looked up and saw bodies flying through the air. They were landing in trees, on rocks and on the concrete...It was like it was happening in slow motion."

As the chute buckled under three times its designed weight capacity, a cluster of students clumped together fell to the ground first, followed by others who crashed against wooden support poles before hitting the ground or other students.