The chain of negligence that led 4-year-old Berra to her death: District National Education approval for an illegal pool

The grieving family members, who are still in shock over the loss of their daughter, made a statement. Holding the daycare staff responsible for the little girl's death and demanding they be tried while in custody, the grieving mother and father emphasized that their daughter Berra had no health problems and that hospital records confirm she died by drowning; they stressed that claims of her having a seizure in the pool do not reflect the truth in any way. It has emerged that the daycare, which is under investigation following the family's complaint, did not have the pool listed in its building permit from the municipality, and that the District Directorate of National Education had granted operational approval for the unlicensed pool.

According to the information obtained, the incident occurred around 14:00 last month at a private daycare in the Süleymaniye neighborhood of the İnegöl district.

Berra Dizi, who had been attending the same daycare for a year, continued at the daycare's summer school during the summer break. On August 12, 2025, Berra drowned during an activity organized at the daycare where children entered the pool. Daycare staff, who pulled Berra from the water—though it remains unknown how long she was submerged—attempted to perform initial intervention on the spot. The little girl was taken to İnegöl State Hospital by an ambulance that arrived at the scene upon notification, and was then transferred to Bursa Yüksek İhtisas Training and Research Hospital. Berra Dizi, who was placed in intensive care, lost her battle for life at the end of the 7th day. Berra Dizi was laid to rest at the İsaören City Cemetery amidst tears.

Speaking to an İhlas News Agency reporter for the first time a month later, the family members expressed that their pain is immense. The family members stated that the daycare's claims that Berra had a seizure in the pool do not reflect the truth, and that hospital records confirm the incident was a drowning.

HER LITTLE HEART LASTED 7 DAYS

Father İsmail Dizi (35), who works in the HR department of a factory in Bursa, described the painful event as follows: "I work in Bursa. My daughter's mother, Beyza Turan, called me and said our daughter had a seizure. That is what they told her at the daycare. When I arrived at the hospital in İnegöl, they had already taken a tomography. I saw my daughter's condition in the tomography. An hour later, they transferred her to Bursa Şevket Yılmaz Hospital. When she was brought to Şevket Yılmaz Hospital, my daughter's lungs had failed. She could not breathe on her own. She had edema at the back of her brain. She had edema behind her eyes. There were pockets of water and air under her skin. Her whole body was swollen due to drowning. The doctors told us, 'Her condition is very critical, you must be prepared for anything; the first 24 hours are very important, then we will wait for 72 hours, and then a one-week period.' Berra fought for her life for 1 week. She fought very hard with that little heart of hers during this process. She passed away after 7 days."

"MY DAUGHTER DROWNED IN FRONT OF 4 PEOPLE"

Stating that his little daughter drowned in plain sight of 4 people, father İsmail Dizi said, "It is not even clear how long our child stayed in the water. The school told us 30 seconds. However, when we spoke to the doctors, they said the time spent in the water could have been between 2 and 5 minutes. The time our child spent in the water is currently not clear. She stayed in the water for an unknown duration in front of the eyes of 4 people."

"THE DISTRICT NATIONAL EDUCATION GRANTED OPERATIONAL APPROVAL"

Pointing out that the school had multiple instances of negligence in the occurrence of the incident, İsmail Dizi said, "First of all, the pool is illegal. A swimming activity was organized in an illegal pool. The İnegöl District Directorate of National Education granted operational approval for the illegally built pool. It is not clear on what basis they granted this approval. It is unclear whether the inspections that should have been conducted by the District Health Directorate were carried out. According to the regulations, the depth of children's pools should be 50 centimeters, but according to the expert report of the school, the pool was filled with water to a height of 91.5 cm. With the situation as it is, it is not clear whether the swimming instructor has a certificate. According to the children's pool regulations, there is no lifeguard where there should be one. While there should be swimming equipment like armbands and rings on the sides of the pool, these were not present. While the edges of the pool should be made of non-slip material, most of them were made of slippery material. One of the teachers slipped and fell while going to intervene with the child. This is available on the security cameras. Currently, the matters are being investigated by the prosecutor's office, and we have demanded that the responsible persons be tried while in custody. However, they are not being tried in custody," he said.

Mother Beyza Turan (29), who works as a healthcare professional, demanded justice for her daughter Berra. Pointing out that she has many questions in her mind about the incident as a healthcare worker, Turan described the event as follows: "I was told that artificial respiration was performed on my daughter when she was pulled from the water. Before that, a coordinator teacher said that Berra had a seizure. When I told the other party that my daughter had no history of seizures or any illness that could cause a seizure, the phone hung up. When I went to the hospital and learned from the coordinator that the swimming instructor had performed artificial respiration on my daughter, I understood that my daughter had drowned. After that moment, the two people who came to the hospital disappeared, and we never communicated with anyone from the school again. I believe that this artificial respiration was insufficient and that the person who performed it did not have a valid first aid certificate. I suspect that the 112 emergency health teams were misinformed. There is too much negligence, and despite so much negligence, this school is still open and continues to provide education. When will it be closed? When will the operation of the illegal pool be stopped?"

"BERRA DIED BECAUSE OF NEGLIGENCE AND LACK OF PRECAUTIONS"

Stating that she could not even hold her daughter when she last saw her because she was intubated, the grieving mother Beyza Turan said, "Yet, I was the one who dropped my daughter off at the daycare in the morning. As we parted, she said, 'I love you so much, mommy.' I kissed her cheeks and handed my daughter over to the school. All that remains of my daughter are her toys and her dreams. The door to her room is still locked; I cannot enter her room. Her belongings are still exactly as she left them. Even though she was 4 years old, she was a very clean and organized child. Even though I know it won't be real, I feel like my daughter will come to me one day. While everyone hugs their children, I go to her grave 4-5 times every day and face the soil. This is the heaviest thing for me. My daughter landed in all of our hearts like a butterfly. She made everyone feel great love in their hearts, but unfortunately, she flew away and left life because of negligence and lack of precautions."

"THE SCHOOL SAID DO NOT BRING ARM BANDS"

Pointing out that her daughter Berra did not know how to swim, but despite this, her teacher at the school sent a message to the parent group asking for the children to be sent to school without armbands, Beyza Turan said, "We enrolled Berra in the daycare when she was 3 years old. She had been going to the daycare for 1 year. When school ended, she started going to summer school. We were told that there would be activities like horseback riding, swimming, and gymnastics at the summer school. We signed a contract with the school based on this. They said they would teach her to swim. Two days before the incident, a teacher from Berra's class sent a message to the parent group asking us to send the children to school without armbands on August 12. Upon this, we did not give her armbands that day. The child had neither armbands nor a ring, nothing. She had always used armbands before. My daughter couldn't even stay on the surface of the water. If her armbands had been on, these things would not have happened," she said.

Meanwhile, within the scope of the ongoing investigation, it was learned that the İnegöl Municipality submitted documents to the prosecutor's office stating that the daycare pool where 4-year-old Berra lost her life was illegal, and that the pool did not have a license. Again, upon the request of the prosecutor's office, it was revealed in a letter sent by the İnegöl District Directorate of National Education that the directorate had granted operational approval for the construction of a pool that did not have a zoning permit.

On the other hand, in the petition submitted to the prosecutor's office, it was requested that the statements of the garden worker who was mowing the grass right next to the pool and witnessed the incident, as well as Berra's daycare friend who was swimming in the pool at the time of the incident and said to her mother at home in the evening, "Mom, Berra struggled and struggled and struggled in the pool, then they pulled Berra out of the pool purple. Berra died," be taken. Furthermore, it was stated that the swimming instructor, who was seen performing artificial respiration on Berra after the drowning incident in the camera recordings, did not have a valid first aid certificate, that the kindergarten did not take the occupational safety measures required by legislation, and that the occupational safety specialist and the necessary risk assessment reports could not be reached, and it was requested that these issues be investigated by the prosecutor's office.

In the petition, regarding the claims that the little girl had a seizure, it was stated, "The epilepsy claims were fabricated by the suspects with the aim of directing the prosecutor's office in a different direction. The suspects also misled the 112 emergency service team and ensured that the incident was recorded as an epilepsy seizure, not a drowning." Additionally, the petition drew attention to the epicrisis reports prepared by different doctors stating that the child was not an epilepsy patient, and the forensic examination report showing that the incident was a drowning, not epilepsy.