UPDATE: Lake Gladman in Wyndham Vale was once a place where children played and fed ducks. On Thursday it became a memorial to three young lives lost after their mother’s car plunged into the deep water.
Family and community members were in shock as they visited the lake to pay their respects to one-year-old baby boy Bol and four-year-old Anger and her twin brother Madit.
The children died after their 35-year-old mother, Akon Guode, drove into the lake on Wednesday afternoon.
She is speaking with homicide squad investigators who are trying to determine if the children’s death was a terrible accident or deliberate act.
And Wyndham council has sent additional youth and counsellors to the Wyndham Vale Community Learning Centre to offer support to residents affected by the tragedy.
Bol, 1, left, Anger, 4, and her twin brother Madit. Photo: Supplied
A five-year-old girl who survived is awake and well, according to her family.
A stream of mourners arrived at the children’s family home on Thursday morning and dozens of distressed members of the local Sudanese community paid their respects at the lakeside edge.
Related: Wyndham Vale lake tragedy: Father says mother innocent
Distraught friends and family members brought flowers and children’s toys, many breaking into tears as they consoled one another.
Their hopes were with the children’s five-year-old sister Awel who remains in the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Relatives of the children spoke briefly outside the hospital to say the girl was awake and doing well. A spokeswoman at the hospital said she was in a serious condition.
A tearful woman said the family was holding up well and were supporting the young girl.
“The family is good. I feel bad about what happened.”
Ms Guode was the mother of seven children. The father of the young children is Jospeh Tito Manyang.
Fairfax Media understands that Ms Guode had a husband in Sudan, the father of her older children, who died.
Thomas Kok, a cousin of Mr Tito Manyang, said the family arrived in Australian from South Sudan in 2008.
He arrived at the growing floral tribute on the shore of the lake after spending the night at the hospital with Awel.
Mr Kok said the outpouring of grief from the community was touching.
“As soon as I saw the community coming towards this scene where the incidents happened, it’s making me feel like people care,” he said.
He said the entire family was devastated.
“It’s shocked everyone,” he said as members of the Sudanese community trickled towards the memorial beside the wetlands, laying flowers and children’s toys.
Sister-in-law Missy Wiw said the deaths were “devastating” and the children were “in a better place now”.
“We just want to find out why or how the car lost control,” she said.
“No one really knows, only the driver does.”
Community member Maciek Nek wiped away tears as he kneeled before the lake’s memorial, laying down a bouquet of flowers.
Mr Nek, a close friend of the family involved, said the community was in mourning.
“It’s been a big loss for us,” he said.
Sudanese community member Martha Mayola said it was important for the local community to support each other in the wake of such a tragedy.
“We need a better, stronger community. We need to solve a problem if there is a problem.”
Ms Mayola said the community would rally behind the family and look after the surviving children.
She also thanked the wider community in Wyndham Vale for the many tributes left at the scene.
“Thank you for your support,” she said. “We are really sad because we lost our children. These children walked to school with my children at Manor Lakes College.”
“We don’t know why the car go through the water,” she said. “When we find out what has happened we [will] need big support in our community so this will not happen again.”
Local residents who did not know the children placed tributes at the scene, with one card reading: “Three more angels in heaven too early.”
Manor Lakes local Kris Dumesny, carrying his 18-month-old son Edward, left flowers at the scene.
“We come down here every week, me and my son, we usually feed the ducks in the pond,” he said.
“They kept saying last night one had died, then two had died, it kept getting worse and worse and worse.”
Wyndham mayor Peter Maynard said he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“Our concerns and thoughts at this time go out to family and friends who have been affected. We also understand the impact this is having on the broader community and acknowledge that many residents have left heartfelt tributes at the scene,” he said.
Cr Maynard said the council had sent additional youth and counsellors to the Wyndham Vale Community Learning Centre and made the centre available to the Victorian Council of Churches and Australian Red Cross to offer support to residents.
Police are trying to understand what was happening in the family’s life in the lead-up to the crash and have appealed to anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
– With Tammy Mills, Allison Worrall, Marissa Calligeros, Aisha Dow, Cameron Tait, Nino Bucci, Craig Butt, Alana Schetzer
