A mother and two children who died after drowning in a river have been identified.
Emergency services were rushed to the boat ramp at Shearer Park off Hollywood Drive, Lansvale, in Sydney’s south-west, on the Georges River at 10.15am on Saturday, following reports that a woman and two children They were in the water “in danger.”
Haoi, 32, was pulled from the water but could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene.
After a massive search of the water, the bodies of their two children, Mitchell and Hazel Nguyen, ages seven and five, were recovered from the water several hours later.
Vietnamese Haoi, 32, and her two children Mitchell and Hazel Nguyen, aged seven and five, drowned in the Georges River on Saturday.
Friends and family have shared touching tributes to the trio on social media.
“It’s very painful… my friend and my two children were suddenly lost today,” one friend wrote on Facebook.
‘I just spoke to you two days ago (I’m) waiting for you to come back.’
A GoFundMe campaign, started to help raise money for funeral costs, revealed that Haoi’s husband, and father of Mitchell and Hazel, was left alone to raise their one-year-old son, Macario.
“I reach out to you in a time of unimaginable pain,” Sarah Vu wrote.
‘A beloved mother and her two young children tragically drowned today in Lansvale, leaving behind a deep void in our hearts and a father and a baby who is only one year old.
‘We hope to raise funds to help the funeral and help the father care for young Macario in this time of grief.
“Every contribution, no matter how small, will make a significant difference.”
Acting Superintendent Luke Scott of Fairfield City Police said the tragedy was “beyond words” and police are now investigating the circumstances surrounding how the trio ended up in the water.
“Police and several bystanders conducted an immediate search operation for that woman and two children,” Detective Scott said.
‘It is indescribable how tragic it would have been for the people who watched what happened and also for the family.
“Several passersby tried to rescue the children and their mother, but unfortunately they did not succeed.”
More to come…