A father and his two children have died after drowning in a swimming pool at a holiday resort in the Costa del Sol.

The three family members were found unresponsive in a swimming pool at Club La Costa World on Christmas Eve, a statement from holiday operator CLC World Resorts and Hotels said.

It is understood that the father and daughter are both British, while the son is American.

The incident occurred after the nine-year-old girl got into difficulties in the water and her brother, 16, and father, 52, attempted to rescue her, it has been reported.

A holidaymaker staying at the resort, which is near the town of Fuengirola, told the PA news agency she saw “bodies covered in white sheets” by the side of the pool, and could hear “a woman crying aloud”.

Tanya Aamer, 23, from Birmingham, said: “The atmosphere as I was walking past is indescribable.

“Obviously we’ve never been in that situation before so we kind just began walking slowly in a slight state of confusion as to what we’re witnessing and eventually when we got to the bottom it was just silent, no talking or anything.”

The Club La Costa World is near Fuengirola on the south coast of Spain, just east from Marbella.

CLC World Resorts and Hotels said that management were assisting the authorities “fully” with an investigation into the deaths at the resort.

The statement said: “Management at Club La Costa World resort would like to offer its heartfelt condolences to the family affected by the loss of three family members on December 24 2019.

“The guests were found unresponsive in one of the resort’s pools.

“First response teams and emergency services attended and administered first aid.

“The management are assisting the authorities fully with their investigation into the deaths.

“We would like to thank our first response team and the emergency services for their quick and appropriate responses, and our staff for the continuing support of the family at this difficult time.”

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are offering assistance to a British woman following an incident in Spain.”

Police divers were inspecting the swimming pool, including the pump, following the incident, according to the Mirror.

If the pool pump was involved, it would not be the first tragedy of its kind.

In 2009, British schoolboy Nathan Clark drowned at a Thai water park after apparently being sucked into a pool’s pumping system.

And a 12-year-old Russian girl died after she was reportedly trapped underwater when her arm was sucked into a swimming pool pump at a Turkish resort last summer.