Queensland Police launch special investigation into Woorabinda deaths

Special detectives have joined the police investigation into the tragic deaths of two young boys in central Queensland.

Special detectives are assisting in the police investigation into the tragic deaths of two young boys in central Queensland.

Emergency services were called to the small community of Woorabinda, in the state’s central region, after a two-year-old boy was found inside a parked car on Richardson St at 7.48pm Friday.

The boy was rushed to the Woorabinda Hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.

The children were pronounced dead at Woorabinda Hospital. Picture: Queensland Government

Less than an hour and a half later, Queensland Police attended the property where they found a second boy, aged three, inside the same car.

The second boy was taken to hospital and was also pronounced dead by hospital staff.

Police have labelled the deaths a “tragic accident”.

Central Region Crime Co-ordinator Darrin Shadlow said police were continuing to investigate how the two children came to be in the car which was parked at the rear of the home.

Central Region Crime Co-ordinator Darrin Shadlow said police were investigating how the two children came to be in the car which was parked at the rear of the home. Picture: ABC/Supplied

“The first child was located and taken to hospital,” Detective Superintendent Shadlow told reporters on Saturday.

“However unfortunately the second child was not identified.

“The second child was laying down in the rear footwall of the vehicle and was not seen by the residents when they located the first child.”

Superintendent Shadlow said the first child was found on the seat of the car, after the pair had allegedly somehow climbed into the car and had been there “for some time”.

“It’s not a used vehicle, so there are no electronics for windows or anything like that,” Superintendent Shadlow said.

“It appears to be a tragic incident … a tragic event for the community.”

Specialist officers from the Crime and Intelligence Command – including detectives from the Child Trauma Unit – have joined the investigation centre at a Rockhampton police station in the Capricornia district.

“Police are continuing to prepare a report for the coroner following the deaths of two children at Woorabinda last Friday, November 10,” a Queensland Police spokesman said.

“The investigation is being aided by Detectives from the Child Trauma Unit and members from the Crime and Intelligence Command.

“As investigations are still ongoing, it would be inappropriate to provide any further updates at this time.”

Queensland Police were called to Richardson St in Woorabinda on Friday after reports a boy had been found inside a car. Picture: Google Maps

The child trauma unit is a group of “highly trained investigators … often deployed across the state to assist regional and metropolitan investigations … to provide additional capability to these often complex investigations”, the Courier Mail reported.

The team investigates the sudden, unexplained deaths of children, as well as serious injuries and deaths resulting from suspected child abuse and neglect.

It’s not alleged the two boys were neglected or abused.

Police believe the boys had died from heat-related stress with investigations continuing.

The temperature in the small indigenous community had reached 33.7C on Friday.

Superintendent Shadlow said the children were related, but they were not siblings.

It’s understood one boy was visiting the small Indigenous shire located about 170km southwest of the central Queensland city of Rockhampton, while the other boy was staying in Woorabinda.

The car the boys were found in had not travelled anywhere.