Queensland boy killed by jet ski ridden by father
A Queensland family has been left devastated by a horror jet ski crash that left one young son dead while his father and another son are in hospital.
Police said 34-year-old Shane Parkes was riding with son Dylan, 6, about noon Saturday on Lake Moondarra, 15km north of Mount Isa, when tragedy struck.
The family's nine-year-old son Tobi was playing in the shallows of the lake when he was struck by the jet ski. His mother was watching on nearby.
The boy's body did not surface and was not located Saturday, with specialist police dive crew called in from Brisbane, the Courier-Mail reports.
Police divers' arrival was delayed due to a lack of flights to the remote town, the crew were forced to fly to Townsville and make the drive to the scene overnight.
It took the crew only 30 minutes to locate the boy's body once the search was commenced Sunday morning.
Queensland Police Superintendent Kev Guteridge praised the crew's effort following the overnight drive.
"As you could appreciate, it's a big effort to drive from Townsville to Mount Isa throughout the night and then locate the body after 30 minutes of searching," he said.
The policeman said it was still too early to draw conclusion about the fatal crash.
"There were quite a lot of witnesses, so we are collecting statements from all of them and piecing together the information we have at the moment," he said.
"The investigation could take quite a long time."
Mr Parkes was yet to give a statement, police said, as the father and his six-year-old son remain in hospital in serious but stable conditions.
Family members visiting the hospital were too distraught to comment.
News break – November 21
