Boy, 2, Drowns in Partly Filled Pool on Santa Ana Visit

A 2-year-old boy from Tonga died early Saturday hours after he fell into a half-empty back-yard swimming pool, becoming at least the 12th child to drown in Orange County this year.

The boy’s identity was being withheld until authorities could notify his parents, who were en route from Tonga to Santa Ana for a family gathering, according to coroner’s officials.

The boy had been staying with relatives in Santa Ana. He was playing in the back yard when he fell into the pool, an unidentified relative at the home said Saturday. The built-in pool was partially filled with water and debris.

Family members declined to comment until the boy’s parents were told of the tragedy. The parents were not expected to arrive in Santa Ana until today at the earliest, family members said.

Coroner’s officials said the boy and his parents are from a country of about 150 islands in the South Pacific about 3,000 miles southwest of Honolulu.

Emergency units were called to the house on the 3600 block of West Sunswept Avenue about 4:30 p.m. Friday, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Dick Faust said.

The boy was admitted to Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange in critical condition, and died at 1 a.m. Saturday, Faust said.

Faust said he did not know how long the boy may have been in the pool before he was discovered. Santa Ana police will investigate the drowning, as is routine in such cases, Faust said.

Statewide and in Orange County, drownings are the leading cause of death for children 4 years old and younger, according to a study released this spring.