Two children who were found unresponsive in Hollywood pool have died, reports say

Two young children who were found unresponsive in a pool behind a Hollywood home Friday morning have died, reports say.

Hollywood Police and Fire Rescue went to the home in the 6400 block of Meade Street and took the children to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Officer Christian Lata, a spokesperson for Hollywood Police, said in an email Friday. At the time, Lata said their conditions were unknown. Their ages were not provided.

WTVJ-Ch. 6 reported Monday night that they died. WSVN-Ch. 7 and WPLG-Ch. 10 reported that neighbors said the home is a vacation rental.

"At this time, there is no reason to believe this incident has a criminal element," Lata said on Friday. "All parties involved are cooperating with police."

Attempts to contact Hollywood Police Department spokespersons Monday evening were unsuccessful.

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance says the leading cause of death for children between 1 and 4 years old is drowning, and a lack of barriers surrounding water is a factor in the majority of drowning deaths.

Florida Department of Health statistics show that 65 children between less than a year old and three years old died from an unintentional drowning across the state i n 2021, the latest data available. Seventeen of them were in South Florida.

The 2021 data shows that 10 toddlers died from unintentional drownings in Broward County, the highest number for that age range since 2003, when there were 16 deaths.

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance recommends using five layers of protection: implementing barriers and alarms, closely supervising, knowing how to swim, wearing life jackets and preparing for an emergency by having a phone near the pool and learning and practicing CPR.

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