Spain probes pool deaths of Briton and two children

A 53-year-old man and his two children were found dead on Christmas Eve

A float is seen at a swimming pool where where three members of the same British family, a father and two children, were found on Christmas Eve. Reuters

Spanish police have launched an investigation into the Christmas Eve drowning of three members of a British family in a swimming pool at a Costa del Sol resort.

A 53-year-old man and his two children aged 16 and nine were found dead in the pool while they were holidaying in Mijas near Malaga, the local authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.

A Malaga police source said the three victims were British, without giving further details

The alert was sounded at around lunchtime on Tuesday when the three were discovered unconscious in the pool. Rescuers sent to the scene were unable to resuscitate them.

The Europa Press agency reported that the father and older boy jumped into the water to try to help the nine-year-old who was struggling to get out of the pool, according to witnesses including the children's mother.

Sur, a local newspaper, suggested that the deaths may have been caused by a failure in the pool's suction system.