Boy, five, drowns on Disneyland holiday

A five-year-old Derry boy drowned after falling into a pool near Disneyland Paris an hour after arriving on a family holiday to celebrate his birthday, it emerged today.

Colum Canning, from the Springtown Road in Cregan, had gone to the French resort with his twin brother Kieran, seven-year-old sister Caitlin and parents David and Karen.

They had just checked in at the Explorers Hotel when the accident happened on Thursday.

It is understood Colum was playing with his brother and sister on the ground floor of the building when he disappeared from his mother's view for a few moments.

He was found a short time later in the pool.

He was pulled from the water by another guest but had already slipped into unconsciousness.

Colum died in hospital on Saturday when his parents took the decision to switch off his life support machine.

The boy's aunt, Sophie Martin Canning, said he was a mischievous child who was inseparable from his twin brother.

"Colum was a lovely five-year-old boy," she said.

"He was loving and full of mischief. The twins were inseparable. They just could not be separated ever."

The family had gone to the Disneyland resort for Christmas and to celebrate the twins birthday on Boxing day.