Father and daughter found dead after boating tragedy
A father and daughter have died after a boat was found drifting in the water in Sydney’s inner west yesterday morning.
Police said the man was seen in a small hire boat with the seven-year-old girl on the Parramatta River in Concord before 11.45am, shortly before his body was discovered.
A man has been found dead on the water in inner Sydney. Supplied
Police divers later recovered the body of the child at about 5.30pm.
The man is believed to be aged in his 40s and a resident of the Westmead area, but the two are yet to have been publicly identified.
Police were called to the scene at Bayview Park on Burwood Road after a passerby contacted Triple Zero.
NSW Police Superintendent Christine McDonald described the death as an “absolute tragedy” for the family and the community.
Emergency services are still searching for the young girl who was caught up in the tragedy. Supplied
Officers used a member of the public’s boat to search the waterway for the man.
“On arrival, officers from Burwood Police Area Command boarded another vessel and went out to the small boat and found the man in the water,” McDonald said.
The small vessel belonged to off-duty firefighter Adam Long, who guided officers and paramedics to the boat.
There was large police presence following the incident. Supplied
“We looked around, and we ended up seeing a boat sitting about 200 metres from the shore waving at us,” Long told 9News.
“I ended up escorting police officers in my boat out to the vessel.
“It was definitely a surprise, certainly something you don’t expect heading out for a beautiful day on the harbour.”
McDonald said a friend of the man called police after midday and expressed concerns for the welfare of the two.
“Unfortunately, police had located the man deceased just before 11.45am, so about an hour beforehand,” she said.
McDonald said police would investigate whether the incident was domestic violence-related.
“In terms of whether this was an accident or this was intentional, that will form part of our inquiries,” she said.
“We’re looking at obviously everything, it’s definitely a line of enquiry.”
She urged anyone with information or footage to come forward.
“If you have any information or you saw anything, I’d really encourage you to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Burwood Police,” she said.
“It’s really important that we get any information we can, [and] that we also secure any CCTV that any homes on the waterfront may have, so that can assist in our search here this afternoon.”
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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