By Josefine Ganko and Riley Walter
A beloved evening ritual for two grandparents turned to tragedy when 86-year-old Ahmad Dunia accidentally drove into the Parramatta River, hitting his wife Halima.
On their daily visits to Manns Point in Greenwich, Ahmad would watch on while his wife fished at the water’s edge for a couple of hours at dusk.
“They love this place,” Halima’s brother-in-law Ghassam Alameddine told Nine News.
“He doesn’t fish, he would just wait in the car.”
A beloved fishing spot was the site of a tragic accident that killed 86-year-old Ahmad Dunia, and injured his 74-year-old wife, Halima.
But Manns Point was the site of devastation when Ahmad accidentally accelerated into the water, crashing through a fence and hitting Halima before entering the Parramatta River about 4.20pm on Monday.
The car floated away as it quickly took on water with Ahmad inside, police said. After being pushed into the river, Halima was rescued by two passersby who dived in to save her.
The couple had just arrived and removed their fishing gear from the car, a Toyota sedan, which Ahmad was trying to park as Halima stood at the waterside.
Divers recovered Ahmad’s body after a two-hour search on Monday evening. Police crews returned to the scene on Tuesday afternoon with a large crane to extract the car from the water. Family and friends embraced each other as they watched the battered car emerge from the river.
The Dunias’ car was extracted from the Parramatta River late on Tuesday afternoon.Credit: Nine News
Detective Superintendent Paul Devaney, commander of the North Shore Police Area Command, said the extraction was “complicated” because of the 10-metre depth of the water at Manns Point.
The vehicle will be forensically examined to determine the cause of the incident.
Alameddine described Ahmad as a “very nice person” and a “happy man”. While family and friends of the couple are devastated by his death, Ghassan says Halima is lucky to be alive.
“It could have been both of them,” he said.
A relative led tributes to the couple on a community social media page, calling the incident a “tragic accident” and writing that the grandfather had been “returned to Allah”. Hundreds of comments under the post shared their condolences.
Emergency services inspect a damaged fence at Manns Point.Credit: Nine News
A 55-year-old Central Coast man working nearby rescued the woman after jumping into the river, five metres below where she had fallen. Another witness also entered the water and helped the woman onto a nearby boat.
She was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with a broken ankle, bruises, abrasions and shock. The 55-year-old tried in vain to save the 86-year-old, but couldn’t open the door as the car quickly sank.
Devaney said police would submit an application to recognise the 55-year-old’s bravery.
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