Family tradgey at Ululah

JAY FIELDING

A MARYBOROUGH family has been shattered by the death of an 18-month-old who was pulled from Ululah Lagoon on Saturday.

Dozens of locals who were at Anzac Park and responded to a call on social media searched for the boy after he went missing just before 5pm on Saturday.

He was found unresponsive in the lagoon 50m away from where he had been last seen.

Paramedics performed CPR on the toddler but he could not be revived and was declared dead at Maryborough Hospital.

Locals, many who helped look for him, have left toys and flowers at a makeshift shrine to the boy at the park.

One resident, who went to the scene to help during the search after seeing a post on Facebook, heard the boy’s mother scream when he was found.

“It was a heartbreaking scream,” the resident told Channel 7.

“I knew straight away, when she screamed, that it was bad.

“When I got there, they literally pulled him out and started the CPR.”

In a now-removed post on Facebook, the boy’s grandmother thanked people who had joined the search.

“Thank you to everyone who helped look for my grandson at Ululah Park,” the post said.

“RIP little man.”

A report will be prepared for the coroner, and police say they will be in regular contact with the family.