French Moroccan actress Nadia Fares died on Friday at the age of 57 after she was found unconscious in a Paris swimming pool a week earlier and had remained in a coma since then.

Her daughters Celia Chassman and Shana Chassman wrote in a message to Agence France Presse that it is with great sadness and sorrow that they announce the death of Nadia Fares on Friday. France has lost a great artist, but for them above all they have lost a beloved mother.

The actress passed away at Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, where she had been admitted on Sunday after being pulled unconscious from a swimming pool at a private club in Paris.

Her daughters told Agence France Presse that the cause of death was a heart attack.

Nadia Fares had been scheduled to begin filming her first feature film as a screenwriter and director next September.

In an interview with Gala magazine in January, Fares revealed that she underwent brain surgery in 2007 due to a severe vascular aneurysm.

She added that she had undergone three heart surgeries over four years, noting that she used to swim four times a week.

Nadia Fares was born in 1968 in Marrakech, Morocco. She grew up in Nice before moving to Paris to pursue her artistic career, which began in the 1990s.

French-Moroccan actress Nadia Fares (AFP).

Fares rose to wide prominence in 2001 thanks to her role in the film Les Rivières Pourpres directed by Mathieu Kassovitz.

That role opened international opportunities for her, leading to several performances in English language action films as well as continued appearances in French films.