Twin toddlers drowned in their backyard swimming pool Thursday after their great-grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, reportedly left a back door open, the Daily Mail and other outlets reported.
“We received a 911 call about 9:44 this morning, and upon arrival, one of the parents had actually gotten the juveniles out of the pool,” Oklahoma City Fire Department Battalion Chief Greg Merrell told KOCO Thursday.
OKCFD said the siblings, a boy and a girl, were 18 months old.
The twins were reportedly transported to Integris Baptist Medical Center where the pair were confirmed dead around 1 p.m, according to KFOR.
The twins’ mother, 37-year-old Jenny Callazzo, had pulled Locklyn and Loreli from the the backyard pool of their Cobblestone neighborhood home and was administering CPR when OCPD arrived on the scene, the Daily Mail reported.
A family relative told the outlet the toddlers gained access to the pool after Jenny’s grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, left a back door open.
KFOR’s aerial footage shows the greenish, murky water of the pool and an open door leading to the pool’s deck.
Neighbors said Jenny was distraught as she climbed into the back of an EMS vehicle while responders tried to save her children.
“They brought out two little children and put them in separate ambulances and they were doing CPR on them,” neighbor Mike Bernard told KFOR.
“My prayers go out to that family because little children are precious,” Bernard also said.
The family moved to the home about a year ago, according to Bernard, who said he had met other family members, but not the little children before.
It is not clear how the children got into the pool nor how long they were in the pool, OKCFD told KFOR.
Neighbors say six children in total lived in the home, along with two parents and one grandmother in the northwest Oklahoma City neighborhood.
Oklahoma City Police told the outlet the incident does not appear to be criminal in nature at this time.
Authorities are looking at the event as a tragic accident, KOCO reporter Kolby Terrell said, reporting from the scene near North Council Road and Northwest 125th Street.
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1-4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Watch KOCO’s coverage of the tragic event below.
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