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A grieving mother has told how her 3-year-old daughter's body was found in her neighbour's pool.
Vimbai Machakaire was playing in her West Auckland garden with her brothers and sisters on Thursday when her mother Emily noticed she was missing about 6.30pm.
The family started looking for the toddler but fearing the worst called police about 7.15pm. They didn't think Vimbai had gone next door because she was scared of the dog that lived there. But that's where police found the toddler about 8pm.
"They opened the gate, they went inside," Emily said. "That's when they found her body floating in the swimming pool."
Emily rushed next door and found her daughter on the side of the pool. She held her lifeless body for almost an hour.
"I gave her a cuddle, I carried her from that house and laid her on her favourite couch."
The family arrived in New Zealand from Zimbabwe in 2004.
They have already buried Vimbai in a traditional ceremony at their local Methodist church.
She was buried with her favourite toy dog and a Lisa Simpson doll that never left her side. "She was a happy child, here at home and at church," Emily said.
Waitakere City Council has launched an investigation into the death. A source suggested Vimbai might have gained access to the pool area through a faulty gate.
Council spokesman Wally Thomas confirmed officials had inspected the property to see if it complied with regulations and their report would be completed within a week.
"We understand the property [with] the pool is tenanted. Once we've completed the report, we'll communicate with the police."
Vimbai was the fourth toddler to drown in a home swimming pool this year but the first to drown in a neighbour's pool.
Waitakere councillor Paul Mitchell warned anyone with a pool to check their gates and fences.
