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CANBERRA - A 4-year-old girl died yesterday after allegedly being thrown almost 60m from Melbourne's Westgate Bridge by her father into the Yarra River during morning rush-hour traffic.
The child was in the water for about five minutes after initially surviving a fall that has claimed dozens of
lives since the bridge opened three decades ago.
Ambulance officers worked to save her for almost an hour before flying her by helicopter to Royal Children's Hospital, where she later died.
Arthur Freeman, 36, of Melbourne, was later charged with the murder of Darcey Iris Freeman. But he did not appear in court because police said he was psychologically unfit to do so. A magistrate ordered him to be held in custody while an investigation continues.
Horrified witnesses told police the man had stopped his white Toyota Landcruiser at the highest point of the eight-lane bridge about 9.10am, picked up the child and threw her over the railing.
Police said that in the midst of heavy peak-hour traffic no one had any chance to intervene.
"He's got straight out of the car and taken the young girl and walked to the edge of the bridge, so that would have happened in a matter of seconds," said homicide Detective Inspector Steve Clark.
"It's a dreadful set of circumstances and often you think you've seen it all - but you haven't ...
"It's particularly distressing for family members but also for witnesses who saw it. A number of those people are upset and I've got a number of police here who have young children themselves, who have had to deal with it."
Ambulance Victoria paramedic team manager Trevor Watson, one of those who tried to save the girl, told theage.com.au that his officers had also been rocked.
"Anything that involves children takes its toll on paramedics," he said.
Victorian Premier John Brumby described the child's death as a terrible tragedy.
"It's such a horrible thing to happen to the child. As a father I think, 'what are the circumstances that could possibly bring this about?"'
Although details remained unclear yesterday, it is believed that Freeman had been involved in a Family Court child custody hearing in the Federal Magistrate's Court at Melbourne's inner-city Commonwealth Law Courts.
After allegedly hurling his daughter from the bridge, the man drove to the court with two surviving sons, aged 6 and 8, and walked into the foyer.
Witnesses told reporters he appeared wild-eyed, was shaking uncontrollably and appeared as if he was "about to have a nervous breakdown".
Four police officers surrounded the man and took him into custody, although at that stage they did not know he was allegedly connected with the incident on Australia's third-largest bridge.
He is reported to have asked a security guard to take his two boys.
The girl's death is already prompting calls for more security on Westgate Bridge, which towers over Port Phillip Bay with a 2500m span linking central Melbourne with the city's western suburbs and the southern port city of Geelong.
Dozens of people, mostly men, have committed suicide from the bridge.
Brumby said it was too early to consider any new safety measures.
- AP