On Saturday, Hoai Nguyen, 32, and her two children, Hazel, 5, and Mitchell, 7, drowned in Sydney. The tragic incident happened as they were taking a trip to the river.
A friend of Ms Nguyen’s, Sarah Vu, set up a fundraising page to help her partner and their infant child.
In her statement, Sarah said that the tragic incident had left a deep hole in her family’s hearts. She noted that she was raising funds to help the family during this time.
At around 10am on Saturday, emergency services were called to an area near Floyd Bay in Sydney’s southwest after the three were seen in distress.
A woman, 32, was pulled from the lake a short time later, but she was not able to be revived. The body of a child, who was five years old, and another boy, who was seven years old, were recovered a couple of hours later.
The bodies of the three individuals have not yet been identified. Luke Scott, the acting superintendent of Fairfield Police, said that the woman was spotted by bystanders.
However, the two children were later found dead. He noted that the search efforts were carried out quickly due to the help of the boats deployed by the local police.
The police are now focusing on the circumstances surrounding the incident, such as how the three people got into the water after they went off the pier.
According to Acting Superintendent Scott, it’s believed that the three people were at Shearer Park before the incident happened.
He noted that one theory being considered by police was that the children fell into the water while the woman was trying to save them. However, Scott said that the details of the incident remain unclear. The police are also looking into various lines of inquiry.
Nobody else was with them when the three fell into the water.
Acting Superintendent Scott said that the incident was a tragic circumstance, and he thanked the members of the public for their help in the search operations.
The police believe that the current was strong when the three individuals fell into the lake. Aside from rain, wind and environmental factors also affected the search efforts.
Multiple agencies participated in the search, which included the police, SES, and the Marine Area Command.
A report will be prepared regarding the incident and the three fatalities. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers or the Fairfield Police.