Oh why don't these people value life?

Tragically, young children do succumb to all sorts of horrific incidents whilst on holiday with their parents e.g. drowning, abduction, car crash, whatever.

But FFS you don't expect your 2-year old to be eaten by an alligator which came out of a man-made lagoon in the middle of a Disney resort!!

Me too Jings

So sad what has happened but Disney is one of the safest places I have been to.
It is Florida and there are alligators. There are safe places for children to paddle, but certainly not in the wide open expanse of the lakes where there are warning notices about the alligators.
It is a tragic accident, 2 year olds move at the speed of light, blink and they have moved. The parents shouldn't have let him paddle in unsafe water, Disney have plenty of warning signs. Prosecuting either the parents or Disney won't bring the boy back

They've found the little boy's body - intact apparently It transpires that he was ten feet from the shore.

That should have been, "paddling ten feet from the shore"

Children love water. It is an attraction, everyone knows that. What child would not want to paddle in water. He might have been 10 feet from shore but still only in 1ft of water. Apparently alligators had been seen in the lake days before so why no warning notice. There are notices on beaches all over the UK saying swimming is dangerous but would anyone think that meant don't paddle? It is a terrible accident and all thoughts should be with the poor family who were just wanting a holiday.

www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/body-found-of-boy-attacked-by-alligator-at-disney-hotel/

This is the latest - he was not paddling in the water and there are no alligator warning signs in the resort.

Poor, poor, little boy.

Doesn't bear thinking about

Can't bear to think about it. I have a 2 yr old DGD . Can't imagine how those distraught parents are feeling, and also the two older siblings.

2 year olds move at the speed of light, blink and they have moved
Alligators and crocodiles move at the speed of light; one minute there is no sign of them, the next they are there on the beach.
It says 'beach resort' in the linked report and that the family were not in the water, they were on the beach.

Disney should have been on constant alert for alligators; they knew they were in the area and they should have been removed (not euthanised).

That poor family; we were in a boat on a river a few years ago and the guide pointed out a crocodile on a beach where a five year old boy had been snatched. He had wandered away from his house not far away.

I feel desperately sorry for the parents. They will re-live that terrible moment for the rest of their lives.

I expect most people would assume that if there was a very real danger then there would be warning notices to keep well away from the water.

Why is there a clamour for prosecution whenever tragedies such as this occur. Really, what is the point of prosecuting people who must be totally traumatised and grief stricken?

With any young child near any body of water, or any where else which is hazardous for small children the parents should be fully in charge and it's up to them to think ahead about the possible hazards. That is being a good parent.

The parents should exercise their own judgement about their childs safety, but Disneyland do have a duty of care and not fencing off such potentially dangerous animals is negligent.

In North Wales a few years ago a couple were convicted of the manslaughter through gross negligence of two children who were allowed to play on a railway line during a family picnic and were killed by a train.

There was no custodial sentence there but how else do you get a message to people about making sure young children do not get into real danger when out and about.

I can't believe that people on here are blaming the parents for this awful tragedy. If there are no warning signs to say about alligators then it would probably be the last thing they would think of coming out of the water at a Disney resort.

I have taken my son, when he was two, to Disney Florida and I didn't think once about alligators, policemen being shot on Universal Drive yes, that was going on but no natural predators in their natural habitat, no.

It was an accident waiting to happen.

Not everyone can read.
Even if they could, these sorts of things always happen.

Several people made critical posts early in this thread, based on the initial reports, including myself. The facts in those reports were very miss-leading and it would now seem that the parents were blameless.

I whole heatedly apologise for my early comments, which were totally wrong and given the facts we now have, cruel.

Lesson -- wait for the facts.

^Not everyone can read" Obione I was about to post exactly that. The 2-year-old certainly couldn't, and Disneyland would be full of children older than him who would not be able to read warnings, plus there are plenty of adults who can't. The visitors from far away also need to be taken into account - them may have flown in that morning and not yet be aware of the alligator risk.

If the water in an area known to contain alligators was not guaranteed free of them, then it should not be possible for a child to be in danger.

I've been to Florida,there are signs warning of alligators,most clearly.Kids like doing all sorts of things,if I allowed mine to do all they wanted to,What a daft comment to make.One minute people are moaning about H&S.You can see why these daft H&S rules are in place.Of course the parents must take responsibility.Some people I wouldn't trust with my dog.If the kid wanted to jump off a cliff,would you stand by and let it,yes suppose you would,then blame someone because,

Disney covers 46 square miles of ground , the resorts are dotted round a couple of man made lakes surrounded by acres and acres of natural waterways and forest.

Alligators are in their natural environment , there are about 1.5 million of them in Florida alone. Whilst I have never in 30 years seen an alligator there ( and Disney has not had an instance of attack in 45 years)I am totally aware that there is every likelihood that large( and even small bodies of water) could contain alligators ( or snakes).

According to the experts there is nothing Disney or the parent could have done to prevent this as it was not usual behaviour . According to the expert on last nights Orlando news most alligators when faced with a body even in shallow water will keep away.

Having said that I have to say I agree with Marmark

Disney should have water fenced off and warnings about crocodiles/ alligators, preferably with pictures and signage for those with reading difficulties. It's no use blaming the parents; they will never forgive themselves anyway. It worries me terribly how many accidents to young children are in the news at the moment.

The reports this morning about the four alligators being " euthanised " horrid word, say they were slit open for signs of human remains. It also shows there are several alligators around so it is not likely to be an isolated incident. There could be dozens of the creatures.

robbienut - that link appears to be to a Disney World publication, damage limitation??

Disney has been there for years. I went in 1989 and was aware of the terrain then. Florida has Alligators, it is a swampland. Never heard of this happening before. So are people getting more stupid? I think everyone thinks someone else will look after them.

Ann alligator attacks do occur but fatalities , thankfully , are quite rare.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/06/15/how-often-alligator-attacks-florida-disney-child-dragged-water/85916280/

I agree with you parents are 100% responsible for their children at all times, and one would have thought an alligator region would make parents extra vigil - a two year old paddle in any area such as this is unthinkable.