SLIDELL, La. — A child died in Slidell earlier Saturday when he drowned while left temporarily unattended, according to a press release.
According to the release from the St. Tammany Parish Coroner, the 7-year-old was not attended to at all times, and the coroner urged parents to keep track of their children at all times when they are in the water.
"Shortly before 10:30 a.m. Saturday, STPSO deputies were dispatched to the 40000 block of Ranch Road near Slidell in reference to an unresponsive child," the sheriff's office said in a press release issued Monday.
The child was transported by emergency medical personnel to a local hospital, where he later died.
“This is a tragedy of enormous proportions and my staff and I join those who are friends and family of the child in grieving this incident,” the coroner said. “Sadly, these deaths occur all too often and each and every one of them is avoidable. The first rule of water safety for children and their parents or guardians in ‘eyes on the water at all times’. No child should ever be left unattended or unsupervised for even a moment. The results, as we have seen today, can and all too often do, have devastating consequences."
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