CORONA DEL MAR : Baby Dies After Hot Tub Accident

A 1-year-old girl who was found in her family’s back-yard hot tub has died after four days of medical care failed to revive her, hospital officials said Friday.

Kazarina Hariluk had been sustained on life-support equipment in “extremely critical condition” in Childrens Hospital of Orange County after she was found in her parents’ hot tub April 20, doctors said earlier.

Hospital officials said the girl died Tuesday, but they declined to elaborate, citing a request from the family. A coroner’s report listed the cause of death simply as drowning, said David Machian, a deputy coroner.

Soon after the accident, neighbors on Point Loma Drive in Corona del Mar rallied to support the family, posting red paper hearts bearing Kazarina’s name on garage doors and car windows. On Friday, neighbors were still dismayed over news of the child’s death.

“Everybody in the neighborhood has been crushed,” said Fran Schmidt, 47. “This is a parent’s worst nightmare.

“The family seems to be holding up fairly well,” she added. “They seem to be regaining their composure.”

“I feel awful over the tragedy,” said Hy Algazi, 56. “I’m a father of two kids, and it’s heartbreaking to think this could have happened to my kids.”

The drowning was the third in a pool or spa in Orange County this year. A 5-year-old Walnut girl drowned in early April in her grandmother’s pool. One day later, a 36-year-old woman drowned in her neighbor’s pool in El Toro.

The perils of back-yard pools are particularly acute for children, said Midge Tobin, a program director for the Orange County Trauma Society.

“People have a misconception that it always happens to parents who aren’t careful with their children,” Tobin said. “It happens quickly and quietly. It happens when the parents, grandparents or baby-sitter leaves the child unattended for just a second.”