A heartbroken family is suing Hilton for $1 million (£792,000) after an eight-year-old girl was "violently sucked" into a pool pipe whilst swimming.
Aliyah Jaico was swimming in the lazy river at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow with several members of her family on Saturday when the tragedy occurred. Police said the girl was found "inside a large pipe in the pool area" and was pronounced dead by paramedics.
A lawsuit filed Monday against the hotel by her mother, Jose Daniela Jaico Ahumada, claims that Aliyah was sucked into an unsecured opening in the pool's flow system. "We believe that Ayliah was violently sucked in the hole that was 12 to 16 inches wide," said family attorney Richard Nava.
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Aliyah's body was stuck in the swimming pool pipe for 13 hours (Facebook)"Her poor little body was contoured when she was sucked into this hole and pipe 20 feet back. Her body was inside of the motor when she had to be extracted. They had to break up concrete in order to extract her, cut pipe. It was absolutely horrific."
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Ms Jaico said in the lawsuit that she'd rented the room so her family could enjoy a day of swimming, an activity Aliyah loved. The girl's death has since been ruled an accidental drowning by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. It said she died from drowning and mechanical asphyxia, when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing. Her autopsy report is pending.
Aliyah's distraught mum called in search and rescue team Texas Equusearch to help find her daughter. It is alleged in the lawsuit that hotel staff refused to show the family the hotel surveillance video, to determine what happened.
Rescue divers used poles with cameras attached to them to search for Aliyah (abc13)Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch was shown the video, however. As per Daily Mail, he said: "You could see her little head go down, and never been seen again, so it was pretty obvious something happened and she never got out of the pool." He added: "How her body was wedged in there, actually shut the pump, shut that suction off. There really wasn’t any suction. Her little body was all the way to the motor, so it took her in a good distance."
Aliyah was reported missing around 6pm but it wasn't until 7am the next day that her body was recovered. Rescue divers used poles with cameras attached to them to find her within the pipe.
Aliyah was swimming in the lazy river at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow when she died (Double Tree by Hilton)For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to
Ms Jaico, who is from Veracruz, Mexico according to her Facebook profile, has posted a tribute to her daughter on social media. Translated from Spanish the mother wrote: "They say we all have our destiny marked... but I can't understand why yours was like this.. Thank you my love for the 8 years you gave me by your side.
"Thank you my girl for teaching me what love is and a noble heart.. I still don't accept that you won't be here anymore, I don't have to pretend. I hope to see you again one day and you'll keep looking at me and you'll get that big smile that was contagious with joy.
Aliyah was described by her family as an avid swimmer (Facebook)"You gave yourself to love always with your heart so noble. I will love you for all eternity. You are the most beautiful thing God has given me and after every battle we went through together we didn't win this one. Rest in peace my beautiful Wera. Forever you."
Aliyah's family are now seeking $1 million (£792,000) in damages and claim the tragedy could have been avoided. "We are seeking justice for Aliyah because this could have been avoidable," the family's attorney Mr Nava said on Tuesday. "Everybody knows this could have been avoidable."
A Hilton spokesperson said they were deeply saddened by the girl's death and noted that the property is independently owned and operated by a third party. The spokesperson said that Hilton had not been served with a lawsuit and doesn't comment on pending litigation.
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