Foreign tourist dies in Marbella swimming pool where he was fooling around with friend
Although the final autopsy report on the 33-year-old is still pending, the initial investigation points to it being an accidental death
A 33-year-old Danish tourist died on Friday, 12 September, in a swimming pool in Marbella, where he was spending the day with a friend. Both of them had apparently consumed alcohol and narcotic substances. The police initially detained the deceased's friend, after finding a bleeding wound on the victim's head, but they released him later, given the forensic experts' preliminary report pointing to an accident. The official autopsy results are still pending.
The incident happened at around 4pm on Friday in the Nueva Andalucía area of the Costa del Sol town. The two friends, who were on a holiday, had snuck into the swimming pool to dive, swim and fool around. In the afternoon, however, local residents noticed a change - the initially playful noises had turned into shouts for help, as one of the men was trying to revive his friend.
Medical services were immediately mobilised to the scene, but they could only confirm the Danish tourist's death. However, they could not certify it as a natural death after discovering the bleeding wound on his head.
The forensic experts who attended the scene removed the body and transferred it to Malaga for an autopsy to be performed. In the meantime, the police took the friend's statement. He explained they had spent the day in the sun, swimming and consuming alcohol and narcotic substances. He explained that everything had been going well until he realised that his friend had been submerged in the water for a long time. According to his account, he jumped in to revive him and called for help. However, police officers proceeded to arrest him, as the body showed signs of having suffered a blow to the head.
After the preliminary autopsy, the forensic experts determined that the death had been the result of an unfortunate accident, which is why the court on duty released the detainee without charges. The High Court of Justice of Andalucía (TSJA) said that the sitting judge considered that there was insufficient evidence to apportion the blame on anyone for the death.
Following the court ruling, the legal proceedings were provisionally closed, although the official autopsy report which will definitively clarify the cause of death is still pending.
