A girl of about 10 years old, Arwa Rfali, drowned on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 21, in Lake Como, near the Tempio Voltiano, in the city center. Her body was recovered late in the evening by firefighter divers.

The girl was in Italy on vacation with her parents, staying with relatives living in the Monza area. According to reconstructions, she was playing in the lake waters with other children a few meters from the shore when, likely due to a sudden drop in the lakebed, she disappeared beneath the surface around 3 p.m. She did not resurface.

Police, Guardia di Finanza naval units, firefighters and divers responded to the scene, with divers arriving by helicopter. The search continued for several hours until the body was found lifeless. The parents were taken to the police headquarters.

The area where the incident occurred, facing the city's public gardens, is marked with a no-swimming ban. The lakebed at that point features an abrupt drop: after a short shallow area, it descends steeply, creating a hazard for those unable to swim. Other drowning incidents had occurred at the same stretch of the lake in the past.