A three-year-old Northern Ireland boy drowned in a swimming pool after leaving the French holiday villa he was staying in with his family, it was confirmed yesterday.
A British embassy spokesman in Paris said the incident happened at about midnight on Saturday in Cherval, in the Dordogne area of France, 80 miles north-east of Bordeaux.
It is not known who discovered the youngster's body, and family details have not been released.
The spokesman said arrangements were being made to fly the body home to Northern Ireland.
Last month, two young Irish women drowned off the coast of Biarritz in the south-west of France.
Dublin students Ms Heather Young (19) and Ms Janet Nicholson (21) were caught up in a freak swell during a late night swim at Marbella Plage.