‘My child is alive by a miracle.’ Those were the words of a father describing what happened to his three-year-old daughter today, August 28, at a playground pool in Salamina, a coastal island municipality west of Athens. Speaking exclusively to newsit.gr, he recounted a harrowing incident that left his daughter struggling to breathe, vomiting, and disoriented — symptoms consistent with acute chlorine gas exposure.
A Day That Turned Dangerous
The family had gone to a local recreational facility in Salamina that combines a children’s playground with an on-site swimming pool. While the father briefly stepped away to use the restroom inside the building, his wife was in the water with their toddler. At that moment, staff opened a metal-covered access hatch — described as a manhole or inspection cover — located near the edge of the pool. According to the father, maintenance work began there, and shortly after, a chemical leak occurred.
‘They were doing work near that hatch, and apparently there was a leak,’ he explained. ‘What leaked entered both the pool water and the surrounding air. The water looked strange, and people swimming there started complaining — their skin began stinging, burning, even turning red.’
Symptoms Spread Quickly
Within minutes, the father’s wife and daughter began experiencing severe respiratory distress. ‘They had trouble breathing. Their skin burned. Their throats burned too,’ he said. Witnesses reportedly saw smoke-like fumes rising from the area where the work was taking place — fumes that quickly filled the enclosed space around the pool.
As the couple tried to exit the pool, they had no choice but to pass directly beside the open hatch — inadvertently inhaling more of the toxic vapour. They rushed out, running toward the facility’s perimeter fence along the roadside, desperate for fresh air. Meanwhile, the father emerged from the restroom to find chaos: families fleeing the pool area en masse, shouting and coughing. He, too, felt a burning sensation in his throat — a hallmark symptom of chlorine gas inhalation.
He estimated roughly ten families — more than ten young children, including his own — were in or around the pool at the time.
Medical Response and Ongoing Concerns
The family immediately went to Salamina’s Health Centre. Medical staff administered oxygen via a special mask to the girl and advised urgent transfer to a hospital for 24-hour observation. She remains under the care of her pediatrician and continues to experience shortness of breath and dizziness.
‘She’s still dizzy right now… My child is alive by a miracle,’ the father repeated, visibly shaken.
Legal Action Underway
Anastasios Dougas, the family’s attorney, confirmed to newsit.gr that legal steps are being initiated. ‘We are heading to the site to investigate exactly what occurred,’ he said. ‘Our first priority is the health and recovery of the child and her mother.’
Dougas emphasized that formal legal action will follow, with responsibility to be determined through all appropriate channels — especially given the serious risk posed to a vulnerable young child.