A three year old girl has drowned after falling into a grease trap at a Bruster’s Real Ice Cream in Auburn on Saturday. According to Fox News, the girl’s body was pulled from an in-ground container used to trap cooking grease from the restaurant.
“Video evidence from the scene shows that the young girl was playing with two of her siblings when she apparently fell through a lid covering one of the grease pits on the property,” Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said in a release. “She had been missing about 5-10 minutes when she was found unresponsive in the grease trap.”
The girl was taken to East Alabama Medical Center where she was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon. Harris maintains that her death was the result of an accidental drowning. “No foul play is suspected and the death investigation indicates that she drowned in the sludge that was in the six-foot-deep inground container,” he said.
The owner of the Auburn Bruster’s released a statement on Facebook regarding the accident:
“As the owner of the Auburn Bruster’s, our deepest condolences go to the family of the child who tragically died Saturday. They are acquaintances of ours and have been regular customers. We are truly heartbroken that this happened. Our thoughts also are with our young crewmember who tried to revive the child. Like all of us, he is quite shaken. The entire Bruster’s family is horribly saddened by this tragic accident. We continue to help local authorities investigate what caused this incredibly sad accident. We hope everyone in the community also will keep the family in their thoughts and prayers. Lance and Kara Latham”
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