Source : Perth Now news
A father looking for his partner and young daughter has arrived at a dam where their bodies were discovered in a partially submerged car, police say.
In heartbreaking scenes, police said the father helped remove the bodies from the vehicle and assisted police with CPR on the 36-year-old woman and 10-year-old girl.
The partner and daughter died after their vehicle crashed through a fence and landed on its roof in the dam north of Brisbane, sitting undetected for several hours.
The woman was driving to school to pick up children when the vehicle lost control at Tinana South near Maryborough about 2.45pm on Thursday.
The 10-year-old girl’s father was unaware of what happened until the school alerted him that the children had not been picked up, police said.
The submerged car was later discovered in the dam by the property’s owner and emergency services were called to the site about 5.30pm.
“The biological father of the 10-year-old …. was there at the time that police attended,” Inspector Paul Algie told reporters at Maryborough on Friday.
“There’s no other way to say it, it is just a horrible tragedy.”
The devastated community would throw its support behind the “distraught” father and his family, Insp Algie said.
“The people in this community always look out for each other and will wrap their arms collectively around this family,” he said.
Support would also be offered to police who attended the scene, he said.
“Police that attended were very upset because conducting first aid on somebody who has just been pulled from a dam is horrific,” he said.
The crash was being investigated but early advice indicated speed or inattention may have played a role, Insp Algie said.
The tragedy took Queensland’s 2026 road toll to 220 and the local Wide Bay region’s tally to 26 – an increase in fatalities compared to the same period last year.
“These tragedies are preventable,” Insp Algie said.
“I am getting sick of talking about this to media. It’s like I am the grim reaper of Maryborough and I am fed up with it.”
