this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 11:00pm. a 9—year—old british girl, her 16—year—old brother and their father have died after drowning in a swimming pool at a holiday resort in the costa del sol. prince philip has been discharged from hospital and is now spending christmas with the queen at sandringham. and the queen will use tomorrow's christmas day message to say the past year has been "quite bumpy," adding that "small steps" can heal divisions. the wildlife victims of australia's bushfires that are being helped by emergency crews working around the clock. pilgrims from around the world are in bethlehem

for the yuletide celebrations. and later in the programme, private eye's editor ian hislopjoins the bbc‘s media editor amol rajan to look back on a fascinating year of front covers, cartoons and satire. good evening and welcome to bbc news. a british man and his two children have died after drowning in a swimming pool at a resort in the costa del sol. they were on holiday at club la costa world when it's believed a 9—year—old girl got into difficulties in the water and her brother and father attempted to rescue her, but also drowned. our correspondentjon donnison is with us now. we are getting a much clearer

picture now of what happened. this was a big resort in fuengirola. we are getting some pictures, there we re are getting some pictures, there were several villas on this resort. the company that run it, club la costa world, they are saying that these three members of the same family were found unresponsive in the swimming pool. the emergency services tried to revive them, they we re services tried to revive them, they were not successful, though. and nine—year—old girl, her brother we believe 16 years old, and her father, 52 years old, we understand that the father and the daughter are both british citizens. the young man, an american citizen. any idea how this could have happened, this was ina how this could have happened, this was in a swimming pool, not out to sea with rip tides and currents and so on. sea with rip tides and currents and so on. that's right. we spoke to

some people who have been staying at the resort and they had used that pool that day and they said there weren't lifeguards at the pool, that was one thing. but it is the key question, really. it is reports does make their report it was the nine—year—old who got into trouble first and the brother and father went afterwards. but as you say, not at sea, not rough water, a lot of questions about how they came to die. the foreign office have said they are assisting a british woman in spain who, one might presume is possibly the mother of these two children. jon donnison, thank you, we will leave it there. let's speak to fernando torres, a reporterfor the spanish newspaper and website diario sur. he's in malaga currently, but has been at the resort on the costa del sol for much of the day where the deaths took place. thank you very much indeed for joining us. you've been at this resort. tell us what you found on

what you saw? good evening. yes, i drove there is sooner we knew. what i saw was a little town in costa del sol, it's like a small town, people we re sol, it's like a small town, people were in shock because nobody could understand what happened. we were told that it indeed was the girl with the trouble is, perhaps with the pumps. the brother tried to help her and they had troubles too. it wasn't nobody out the resort but a recent manager told me that they don't need to because the pool is too little to need a lifeguard there. so police are investigating there. so police are investigating the incident at the moment. divers we re the incident at the moment. divers

were trying to find clues but they didn't at the first look. the investigation is still open so they don't really know what happened so far. did you see any eyewitnesses? eyes spoke to a man who saw the dead bodies. he was in shock. they didn't wa nt to bodies. he was in shock. they didn't want to talk to me directly. i also knew that the first two dead there, the resort workers, they heard screaming and tried to do cpr as well but they could not help them, they were already dead. when emergency doctors came, it was the same. i heard maybe 30—45 minutes spent trying to revive them, but they couldn't. but to be clear, you

are saying that as far as the authorities are concerned, there didn't need to be a lifeguard at this bill because it was simply too small —— this pool? this bill because it was simply too small -- this pool? yeah, in order of the people that can be at the pool of the people that can be at the pool, you must or must not have a lifeguard working there. so in the law, they are good — of course they are so law, they are good — of course they are so overwhelmed and so sad as everybody is, but we didn't know that something like that could happen. the law doesn't make us to have a lifeguard there. all right, we will leave it there. thank you for joining we will leave it there. thank you forjoining us to talk. the duke of edinburgh has returned to sandringham for christmas after leaving hospital in london. prince philip, who's 98, spent four nights in the king edward

vii hospital on the advice of his doctor. his return to norfolk comes as it's been revealed that the queen will describe 2019 as a "bumpy" year in her christmas message. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. afterfour nights in the king edward vii hospital, the duke emerged this morning and walked, slowly but without assistance, to the waiting vehicle. there has been no information about the reason for his stay at the hospital. in the past, he has been treated there for bladder and chest infections. whatever the nature of this latest episode, the duke, who is 98 now, has clearly satisfied his doctors that he is well enough to return home. a helicopter took him from buckingham palace to the queen's sandringham estate, where the royal family is gathering for christmas. in her christmas broadcast tomorrow, the queen will talk about a past year which has felt "quite bumpy". she doesn't clarify what it is that has been bumpy, which will inevitably invite speculation. these are her words.

talking about reconciliation, she says... the obvious conclusion is that this is a coded message on from the divisions of the brexit debate.