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

Two young children who were found unresponsive in a pool behind a Hollywood home Friday morning have died, police confirmed Tuesday.

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. Their ages were not provided.

WSVN-Ch. 7 and WPLG-Ch. 10 reported that neighbors said the home is a vacation rental.

"There is no foul play suspected at this time," Deanna Bettineschi, Hollywood Police Department spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday morning.

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 in 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.

Angie DiMichele is a reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel.