By Amber Schultz, Sarah McPhee and Anthony Segaert
A day at the park has ended in tragedy after the bodies of a mother and her two children, a girl aged five and a boy aged seven, were pulled from a fast-moving river in Sydney’s south-west.
Emergency services were called to a boat ramp in Floyd Bay, in the Georges River at Lansvale, about 10.15am on Saturday, “after a woman and two children were seen in the water in distress”, NSW Police said.
The mother, 32, was pulled from the water but could not be revived, while the bodies of the children were found about three hours later after an extensive search mission.
Speaking outside Fairfield police station, acting Superintendent Luke Scott said the trio were believed to have been visiting the park before walking down to a small pier on the waterfront when they ended up in the river.
He said bystanders acted swiftly to try to save them, launching a heroic rescue mission.
“Some boats were commandeered,” he said, leading the mother to be pulled from the water.
Police search the water for the two missing children.Credit: Rhett Wyman
The first police officers on the scene were also able to “immediately obtain” a jet-ski from a member of the public, and a major search mission was launched involving police, Marine Area Command, PolAir and State Emergency Service.
Police divers located one child’s body near the pier and the second was found about 100 metres downstream about 2pm.
“There was rain, there was wind, there were a number of environmental factors that were affecting that search operation,” Scott said, adding the current was strong.
Police are investigating whether the children were swimming or fell in, and if the mother jumped in to rescue them.
“It’s beyond words, how tragic it would have been for people who observed what happened and also for the family,” he said.
SES Chief Inspector Christian Young said a significant number of emergency service members were involved in the land, water and air search.
“The water was flowing, and the tide was turning soon after,” he said. “It has to be a group effort because it was such a large space that we were searching at the time.”
Black Muscat Park, on the opposite side of the river from where the tragedy occurred, is a popular spot for children’s birthday parties, sports games and barbecues. Children lined up along the grass to watch the recovery mission.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
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