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

The body of a schoolgirl who drowned during a birthday party at a water park was not found for more than an hour, an inquest has been told. 

Kyra Hill, 11, went missing in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure near Windsor, Berkshire, in August 2022.

She did not return to the changing room, sparking ‘chaos’ as parents and staff started screaming her name across the Total Wipeout-style assault course. 

Emergency services were called to the scene at 3.55pm, but Kyra was not found until just after 5.10pm. 

She was then rushed to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, where she was pronounced dead.

An inquest at Berkshire Coroners’ Court heard today there were no warning signs of deep water where the schoolgirl drowned. 

Senior coroner Heidi Connor told the hearing there were ‘various sharp drops’ of up to 14.7ft within the swimming zone. 

The lake was 8.8ft deep where Kyra was seen going under, a report carried out after the incident found.

Police are seen outside Liquid Leisure in Windsor at the time of the incident in 2022 

Tearful staff lay flowers after the ‘tragic incident’ at a water park in Berkshire

However, the only signs relating to depth in the designated swimming zone said ‘danger shallow water’, the hearing was told. 

The coroner asked Liquid Leisure’s owner and director: ‘Do you think it’s reasonable for a parent seeing that sign to think all of the water is shallow?’

Stuart Marston said: ‘You could interpret it in different ways but, yes, you could interpret it that way.’

Shallow water signs were erected following a civil claim after someone hit the bottom with their knee, he added.

‘We were told to put danger shallow water signs around the facility so people didn’t jump in,’ he said

‘It’s very difficult, in hindsight now… if there was a deep water sign there and also shallow water (signs), it would be conflicting.’

Mr Marston initially told the inquest he believed ‘to the best of my knowledge’ that the depth of the water in the beach area had been measured before Kyra’s death.

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

Mr Marston responded: ‘I would say then if you haven’t seen anything then it hasn’t been tested.

‘Tested in the way of the robot coming in and doing the underground stuff, then, no, we haven’t done any testing on the swimming area.’

As many as 40 people, including members of the public, are believed to have dived into the water at Liquid Leisure, near Datchet, Berkshire, in a frantic rescue mission 

People over six years old were not required to wear life jackets at the park, provided they were competent swimmers and had a reasonable level of fitness and ability. 

It was a requirement to sign a waiver confirming this, the inquest heard.

CCTV of the incident showed around 42 people in the water and others on the beach, the coroner said.

One lifeguard was overseeing the area and Mrs Connor put it to Mr Marston that Liquid Leisure’s policy required at least one lifeguard per 30 participants.

He said lifeguards at nearby activities, in the same lake as the beach area, would occasionally check from their stations.

‘Others do look around because it’s never at full capacity on all of the activities,’ he added.

The director later accepted that more lifeguards should have been on duty.

The beach starts as sand but becomes ‘silt and mud’ further out, with some witnesses describing it as ‘squishy’ at the bottom, the coroner said.

She suggested this could decrease water visibility.

There were also no warnings about the texture of the bottom or the visibility, the inquest heard.

The family’s lawyer also put to Mr Marston that the muddy bottom could be difficult to push off from.

Mr Marston replied: ‘I’ve never had a problem, no one has ever said it would be hard to push off of.’

The point at which sand turned to mud would vary through the year but this was not monitored, he added.

The coroner said: ‘This inquest is going to be very difficult, predominately for Kyra’s family, I’m very much aware of that.’

She added it will not be forgotten ‘that this is about your Kyra, an 11-year-old girl who supported Manchester United and who dreamt of a career in law’.

 The hearing was previously told a post-mortem examination gave the cause of her death as drowning.

The inquest continues.