A man and his five-year-old son, both overseas tourists, have drowned at Airlie Beach, north of Mackay in north Queensland.
Paramedics said the boy and his 30-year-old father were pulled unconscious from the water at the Airlie Beach lagoon about 4:00pm on Sunday afternoon.
They went into cardiac arrest and were rushed to Proserpine Hospital in a critical condition but died shortly after.
Police said they were overseas tourists who got into trouble in the water.
They were still working to contact relatives of the man and the boy, who are believed to be from Asia.
Officers are reviewing CCTV as part of their investigation for the coroner.
David Muir was at the pool when he noticed the father being dragged from the water by lifeguards.
He said he helped perform CPR on the man.
"We'd maybe been going for five minutes working on the father and I heard a voice to my right a lady shout out, 'is that boy still under the water?'" he said.
"When I turned around I saw a child fully submerged in the water and I was in two minds do I continue or do I leave and abort".
He said he was devastated by what happened.
"We worked for 40 minutes to bring that gentleman back … but sadly it was too little too late."
Jodie Ginger was at the lagoon with her two children on Sunday afternoon when people began performing CPR on the pair.
She said the afternoon would stay with her forever.
With her two girls shaken from the event, she said she just went home and cried.
"Our little community is crying for them," Ms Ginger said.
Another witness told the ABC it all happened very quickly, while another woman said she tried to comfort a number of backpackers who were distressed by the incident.
The lagoon is closed today, but will reopen tomorrow.
The Airlie Beach lagoon is patrolled by lifeguards and is a popular destination for locals and visitors.
Whitsunday Mayor Andrew Willcox praised the efforts of everyone who came to their aid and tried to resuscitate them.
"Obviously it was extremely distressing for everyone involved, both police, emergency services and civilians," he said.
He said the council would offer counselling to those involved.
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