Tragedy as girl, 7, drowns at popular swimming spot while on school holiday

By SARAH BROOKES - SENIOR REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 23:22, 11 April 2026 | Updated: 23:24, 11 April 2026 A school holiday outing has ended in heartbreak after a seven-year-old girl was pulled from the water at a popular swimming spot southwest of Brisbane. The young girl vanished while swimming at Colleges Crossing Recreational Reserve in Chuwar on Saturday afternoon, sparking a frantic search. Emergency crews were called just before 5pm, with police, including POLAIR and specialist dive units, scouring the water and surrounding banks for hours. At 10.24pm, the girl was retrieved from the water but could not be saved. A primary school-aged boy was also taken to Ipswich Hospital in a stable condition after being pulled from the water. Earlier, officers had cordoned off the picnic area, turning away cars as the desperate search unfolded. Police divers arrived at the section of river where the little girl was last seen shortly after 8pm. On the bank, frantic locals used the torchlight from their mobile phones to help crews. Police officers cordoned off the picnic area, turning away cars as the desperate search unfolded The young girl vanished while swimming at Colleges Crossing Recreational Reserve (pictured) in Chuwar on Saturday afternoon Tragically the young girl was found dead hours after she missing No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.