A father has died trying to rescue his young daughter as she got into difficulty swimming in the Murrumbidgee River.
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Police, ambulance and fire rescue crews were called to the popular bathing spot at Tharwa, south of Canberra, on Saturday afternoon but were unable to revive either victim of the treacherous waters.
The 48-year-old man was pulled to the bank and an attempt was made to resuscitate him. The attempt failed.
His 11-year-old daughter was still in the water about 200 metres away. An attempt to resuscitate her also failed.
The alarm was raised by the young victim's 14-year-old sister.
The surviving sister was too shocked to be interviewed by the police but officers were working on the theory the 11-year-old got into difficulty and the father went in to try to help. He drowned trying to save his daughter.
The coroner had been informed. The family have not been named by the police but they are from the south side of Canberra.
The Murrumbidgee to the south-east of Tharwa was popular among swimmers but also treacherous. It swirls and eddies at the bend so much so it's impossible to tell its direction at times. It can appear to go one way and then the other.
There were swift undercurrents which defied even strong swimmers.
The mother of the two sisters was not among the family group when the accident happened.
Since the heavy rains, the river had become harder to predict.
In August, a kayaker drowned at Point Hut. At the time, police urged the public not to enter or play in flood waters or swollen rivers.
The river in the Paddys River area near Tharwa was not flooded at the moment but it was fast-flowing in parts.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
