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PICTURED: Family involved in tragic dam crash that killed two children

The family inside a car when it plunged into a dam killing two young passengers has been identified.

Thirteen-year-old Leo and and four-year-old Mia died after the car carrying six people veered off Beaudesert Boonah Road and into Wyaralong Dam, in Queensland’s southeast, just after 2pm (AEST) Sunday.

Parents Mel Martin, 33, and Dylan Wadley, 23, were driving with their four children from Pimpama on the Gold Coast back home to Pratten at the time of the crash, according to ABC News.

Parents Dylan Wadley and Mel Martin with their four children. Source: Facebook
Parents Dylan Wadley and Mel Martin with their four children. Source: Facebook

They managed to free themselves and save two of their children, their newborn daughter and one-year-old son, but Mel’s other two children couldn’t be saved.

“Unfortunately, those two children were trapped in the vehicle longer than the other occupants,” Inspector Doug McDonald told reporters on Monday.

“There was some difficulty getting some of the doors open ... to extract the kids,” he added.

“Once they were taken from the vehicle (there were) attempts for quite some time to revive those children.”

The family of six plunged into the dam on their way home to Pratten. Source:  Nine News
The family of six plunged into the dam on their way home to Pratten. Source: Nine News

Insp McDonald said the car veered into a barrier on the left side of the road at high speed then “skewed across to the opposite side”.

“Consequently the angle it's gone into that other barrier has resulted in it flipping and rolling down that embankment into the water,” he said.

Police said a potential cause for the incident could have been driver fatigue.

The surviving children remain in hospital. The boy is in a stable condition and the girl suffered no serious injuries.

Leo, 13, and Mia, 4, were killed in the incident. Source: Facebook
Leo, 13, and Mia, 4, were killed in the incident. Source: Facebook

Alcohol doesn't appear to have been a factor and the car was travelling on a straight section of road with a 100 km/h limit.

A police officer suffered minor injuries when the police car he was traveling to the dam in on Sunday rolled onto its roof on an unsealed road.

Police appealed for anyone with dashcam footage from the area on Sunday to contact Crime Stoppers.

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