It was a sad and pathetic situation for the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), families and friends as a 52-year-old pastor of the church, his 16-year-old son and his 9-year-old daughter reportedly got drown inside the swimming pool in the Costa del Sol resort in Southern Spain on Tuesday December 24th.
The deceased identified as Gabriel Diya, Praise Emmanuel Diya and Comfort Diya were on a family vacation before the sad incident occurred.
The 52-year-old pastor was serving as the Minister in charge of the Open Heavens of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Charlton, South-East London.
According to reports, the daughter of the pastor named Comfort got into difficulty while playing in one of the 21 swimming pools in the resort.
According to reports, Gabriel Diya and his son jumped in to try to save her but reportedly struggled in the water. Despite poolside attempts to resuscitate them, all three died at the scene.
His wife, Olubunmi, who was with them prayed fervently as CPR was performed on her husband and children. Sadly, they were all confirmed dead by the doctors.
Post-mortem examinations carried out on Christmas Day confirmed death by drowning. After the incident, police carried out an investigation and could find nothing wrong with the pool’s filtration and pump system. The pool has since been reopened to the public.
The UK’s central office of RCCG has since described the unfortunate incident as a “tragic accident”. In a post shared on Facebook, the church said
Pastor Gabriel Diya, who was also the Parish Pastor of Open Heavens, Charlton in London was aged 52. He is survived by his wife Assistant Pastor Olubunmi Diya and their daughter.
At this very difficult time, our prayers are for Pastor Gabriel Diya’s family, the parishes that were under his supervision, friends, associates, members of RCCG and the general public”.
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