Staff at the four-star Down Hall Hotel discovered the man and woman on Saturday and tried to revive the pair with the help of paramedics.
However, the man, in his early 30s, and the woman, who was in her early 20s, were pronounced dead at the scene.
A policeman stands guard at the Down Hall
Country House Hotel in Essex, where a man and a woman were discovered
dead in the swimming pool on Saturday night
The pair, a man in his 30s and a woman in her
20s, were discovered by a guest at about 7.30pm. Their deaths are so far
'unexplained' by police
A picture posted to Twitter by a hotel guest showed the cordoned off swimming pool today
Yesterday one visitor, Morven Philp, who arrived at the mansion yesterday morning to take part in the event, told the Mirror she believed at first that the officers in uniform were fake.
She said: ‘There were police and press at the entrance and we thought it was a fantastically realistic event.
‘It was only then that the police told us there had been a real incident and two people were dead.
‘The hotel had left us a voicemail message which we hadn’t picked up.
The emergency services were called to the country house hotel in Hatfield Heath, on the border of Essex and Hertfordshire, at 7.35pm on Saturday.
The air ambulance helicopter was summoned to the 110-acre estate but paramedics could not resuscitate the man and woman.
Police said the pair from London checked in at the £150-a-night hotel together, but could not confirm if they were a couple.
Their families have been informed but police refused to reveal their identities until post-mortem examinations have been carried out.
The ten-metre pool was open to hotel guests but was unsupervised. Another guest said she had used the pool just 30 minutes before the bodies were discovered.
The hotel is situated in more than 100 acres of woodland
Lucy Sparks, 21, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was at one of the wedding receptions when police arrived at the hotel. She said: ‘We saw two police officers rush through reception with a member of staff. There were about five or six police cars outside and we saw the air ambulance land.
‘The hotel just pulled a curtain to separate us and the party still went on as normal.’
Yesterday detectives said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths, which they are treating as ‘unexplained’.
Chief Inspector Nick Lee said his officers had found two people ‘submersed’ in the pool.
He added: ‘Despite a valiant attempt from the hotel staff and ambulance service, unfortunately it was not possible to revive those individuals and they were pronounced dead at the scene.
‘Next of kin have been informed about this tragic incident and I can tell you at the moment Essex Police are not looking for any other people in connection with this investigation.’ The man and woman were understood to have been in swimwear.
A line of investigation is likely to be whether one of them suffered difficulties while swimming and the other drowned during an attempting a rescue.
The hotel, on the Hertfordshire border, is a popular wedding venue. Jade Goody tied the knot there in 2009
Post-mortem examinations are expected to take place today and the coroner has been informed.
Down Hall Hotel is a popular wedding venue. It was used by Big Brother star Jade Goody when she married Jack Tweed.
The estate dates back to 1322. The house itself is a 16th Century Italianate mansion where a silk mill owner and a Victorian member of Parliament once lived.
It was used as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers in the First World War and was turned into a hotel in the 1980s.
Hotel manager Chris Falcus said: ‘We are all devastated by the tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of those concerned.’
Jade Goody and Jack Tweed on their wedding day at the hotel in 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment