Body of schoolgirl, 11, wasn't found for more than an hour after she drowned at water park during birthday party, inquest told

The assemblage of a schoolgirl who drowned during a day enactment astatine a h2o parkland was not recovered for much than an hour, an inquest has been told. 

Kyra Hill, 11, went missing successful a designated swimming country astatine Liquid Leisure adjacent Windsor, Berkshire, successful August 2022.

She did not instrumentality to the changing room, sparking 'chaos' arsenic parents and unit started screaming her sanction crossed the Total Wipeout-style battle course. 

Emergency services were called to the country astatine 3.55pm, but Kyra was not recovered until conscionable aft 5.10pm. 

She was past rushed to Wexham Park Hospital successful Slough, wherever she was pronounced dead.

An inquest astatine Berkshire Coroners' Court heard contiguous determination were nary informing signs of heavy h2o wherever the schoolgirl drowned. 

Senior coroner Heidi Connor told the proceeding determination were 'various crisp drops' of up to 14.7ft wrong the swimming zone. 

The water was 8.8ft heavy wherever Kyra was seen going under, a study carried retired aft the incidental found.

However, the lone signs relating to extent successful the designated swimming portion said 'danger shallow water', the proceeding was told. 

The coroner asked Liquid Leisure's proprietor and director: 'Do you deliberation it's tenable for a genitor seeing that motion to deliberation each of the h2o is shallow?'

Stuart Marston said: 'You could construe it successful antithetic ways but, yes, you could construe it that way.'

Shallow h2o signs were erected pursuing a civilian assertion aft idiosyncratic deed the bottommost with their knee, helium added.

'We were told to enactment information shallow h2o signs astir the installation truthful radical didn't leap in,' helium said

'It's precise difficult, successful hindsight now... if determination was a heavy h2o motion determination and besides shallow h2o (signs), it would beryllium conflicting.'

Mr Marston initially told the inquest helium believed 'to the champion of my knowledge' that the extent of the h2o successful the formation country had been measured earlier Kyra's death.

Rachel Marcus, representing the Hill family, enactment to him that they had not seen immoderate documentation stating it had.

Mr Marston responded: 'I would accidental past if you haven't seen thing past it hasn't been tested.

'Tested successful the mode of the robot coming successful and doing the underground stuff, then, no, we haven't done immoderate investigating connected the swimming area.'

People implicit six years aged were not required to deterioration beingness jackets astatine the park, provided they were competent swimmers and had a tenable level of fittingness and ability. 

It was a request to motion a waiver confirming this, the inquest heard.

CCTV of the incidental showed astir 42 radical successful the h2o and others connected the beach, the coroner said.

One lifeguard was overseeing the country and Mrs Connor enactment it to Mr Marston that Liquid Leisure's argumentation required astatine slightest 1 lifeguard per 30 participants.

He said lifeguards astatine adjacent activities, successful the aforesaid water arsenic the formation area, would occasionally cheque from their stations.

'Others bash look astir due to the fact that it's ne'er astatine afloat capableness connected each of the activities,' helium added.

The manager aboriginal accepted that much lifeguards should person been connected duty.

The formation starts arsenic soil but becomes 'silt and mud' further out, with immoderate witnesses describing it arsenic 'squishy' astatine the bottom, the coroner said.

She suggested this could alteration h2o visibility.

There were besides nary warnings astir the texture of the bottommost oregon the visibility, the inquest heard.

The family's lawyer besides enactment to Mr Marston that the muddy bottommost could beryllium hard to propulsion disconnected from.

Mr Marston replied: 'I've ne'er had a problem, nary 1 has ever said it would beryllium hard to propulsion disconnected of.'

The constituent astatine which soil turned to mud would alteration done the twelvemonth but this was not monitored, helium added.

The coroner said: 'This inquest is going to beryllium precise difficult, predominately for Kyra's family, I'm precise overmuch alert of that.'

She added it volition not beryllium forgotten 'that this is astir your Kyra, an 11-year-old miss who supported Manchester United and who dreamt of a vocation successful law'.

 The proceeding was antecedently told a post-mortem introspection gave the origin of her decease arsenic drowning.

The inquest continues.