Maribyrnong Council set up warning sign day after second toddler drowned at Footscray Park

Maribyrnong Council set up warning signs about a dangerous pond at Footscray Park the day after the drowning of a second toddler in a matter of months.

One of the ponds was covered in thick green algae “almost appearing as grass”. Picture: Ian Currie

A council didn’t erect warning signs about a dangerous pond at Footscray Park where a toddler died until after a second girl drowned, a court has heard.

Two little girls died just six months apart in 2021 after falling in the same algae-covered body of water at the heritage park on Maribyrnong Blvd.

A month after the drowning death of three-year-old Refan Al Moarfeg, on July 5, Maribyrnong City Council received recommendations to put up warning signs about the “inherent dangers” of the park’s waterways.

But the signs weren’t installed until December 28, the day after a second little girl, Meeram Bano, 2, was discovered unconscious in the same pond after wandering from a family BBQ.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson is investigating whether to hold an inquest into the two girls’ deaths, and will visit the ponds at Footscray Park next month.

Meanwhile, the Coroner’s Court was told on Tuesday that a third child, aged 2, almost drowned in the same pond on August 24 after falling down an embankment, but was saved by passers by.

Two shallow ponds, just 10m from the fence line of a gated playground opened in late-2018, have been at Footscray Park for “decades”.

Paramedics treat Refan at the scene of the tragedy. Picture: Supplied

The largest of the two, 48-cm deep, was covered in thick green algae “almost appearing as grass making it extremely difficult for a person, let alone a child to be aware that it was a body of water”, the court was told.

Refan had been playing inside the gated Playspace playground area with her young friend Malath on June 30, with both children running back and forth to their parents to eat and drink.

But soon after, Refan’s mum noticed Malath standing outside the fence “totally wet” with a woman, who said she found the girl near the ponds.

Frantic searches for Refan failed until her mum looked again in the ponds and found her little girl “face down and lifeless” in the water, court documents state.

Five days later, she died of hypoxic ischaemic brain injury at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

It was later found the lock on the playground gate was “inoperable”, the court heard.

Six months later, Meeram Bano, 2, was at Footscray Park with her parents and brothers for a large family gathering to welcome extended family from Pakistan, on December 27.

The little girl was last seen by her mum playing with a duck a few metres from their picnic blanket.

But within two short minutes, as her mum took a phone call that their dinner was ready, Meeram disappeared from view.

She was found unconscious in the same pond that Refan was discovered in months earlier.

A pond at Footscray Park. Picture: Ian Currie

As Meeram was being treated in the paediatric intensive care unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Maribyrnong City Council installed the warning signs that had been delivered to its offices four days earlier, on Christmas Eve.

Meeram died on December 30 after three days on life support.

The signs — installed at the playspace gates and around the ponds to warn of the waterways’ dangers — were a recommendation of a health and safety risk assessment received by the council in August, after Refan’s death.

Coroner Jamieson is yet to decide whether to hold an inquest and said she was mindful of how traumatic a public hearing would be for the families of the two girls.

“This is a significant issue with public health and safety, where two young children tragically died in a public park within six months of each other,” Her Honour said.

“Clearly I’m concerned about that and so should the public.”

Coroner Jamieson noted the council had implemented restorative measures, which included temporary fencing around the ponds, daily safety inspections and a new “airlock” system on the Playspace gates.

“I need to be satisfied, however, that they are sufficient to ensure that other families can continue to attend Footscray Park and feel safe.”

Counsel assisting the court, Leading Senior Constable Fiona Nation, said “there remains an ongoing risk which requires a long-term solution”.

The matter will return to the Coroner’s Court at a later date.