British boy, 4, who drowned in pool at Spanish villa named

A four-year-old British boy who drowned in a swimming pool at a Spanish holiday resort has been named as Refoel Berkovits.

The child, from Golders Green in north London, died at around 9pm local time on Sunday at a house in Mijas on the Costa del Sol.

His parents - business owners David Berkovits and his wife Dena - were reportedly having dinner with around 20 guests when a 15-year-old boy sounded the alarm.

Local newspaper Diario Sur said that Refoel fell into the pool while running with older children at the back of the property in the Mijas Golf resort in Las Lagunas.

Emergency services spent half an hour trying to save his life but were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Yitzchok Grosskopf, a doctor who was among the party, tried to resuscitate the boy before the paramedics arrived, according to the Evening Standard.

Dr Grosskopf told the newspaper: "The family have been making arrangements to return to the country at this difficult time. It is not a good time."

A judge has been placed in charge of a routine investigation into the incident.

The boy's family, who are Orthodox Jews, are believed to have instructed Spanish lawyers to prevent a traditional post-mortem examination on religious grounds.

Refoel's death came almost exactly a year after a Scottish toddler drowned in a pool in Mijas.

Two-year-old Theo Lamb reportedly fell into a neighbour's pool next to his family's property on August 18 last year.

Local media reported that his father, Duncan Lamb, originally from Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, discovered the boy in the water.