Alabama Girl Dies After Falling Into Ice Cream Shop's 6-Foot-Deep Grease Pit

A 3-year-old Alabama girl died over the weekend after fell into a 6-foot-deep grease pit and drowned, local media reported. According to Opelika-Auburn News, the young girl was playing with family members at an ice cream shop when the incident took place.

Auburn Police received a 911 call about a missing child and when they arrived at the scene they discovered CPR being performed on the girl, who was pulled Saturday from the in-ground container used to trap cooking grease at Brewster’s Real Ice Cream in Auburn. Police was informed just about five-10 minutes after the girl went missing following which the family found her unresponsive in the grease trap.

She was taken to East Alabama Medical Center where she was declared dead. A release from Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said that the death has been determined as an accidental drowning case. No foul play is suspected in the death of the young girl. However, the incident still remains under investigation, authorities said.

“Video evidence from the scene shows that the young girl was playing with two of her siblings when she apparently fell through a lid covering one of the grease pits on the property,” the release read.

“She had been missing about 5-10 minutes when she was found unresponsive in the grease trap,” the coroner said.“No foul play is suspected and the death investigation indicates that she drowned in the sludge that was in the six-foot-deep inground container.”

Harris requested in the release that the young girl's family must not be disturbed during this time as they go through this tragedy.

"Please keep this family in your prayers as they suffer through this tragedy," Harris said.

The girl's name was not immediately released by police.

In a Facebook post, the shop wrote: "Bruster’s Auburn will be closed today!" along with a broken heart emoji. A sign outside the shop read: "Closed for today, sorry for the inconvenience."

According to a local report, a crowdfunding site dedicated to the girl's funeral expenses has so far managed to raise close to $9,000.