Boy, 2, killed after tractor incident remembered as 'cheerful, bubbly'
A family has been left grieving a "cheerful, bubbly" toddler who was killed after being hit by a fertiliser bin that fell from a tractor in the state's south-west.
Paramedics were called to a farm in Naringal near Warrnambool about 11am on Wednesday, after two-year-old Darcy Membrey was struck by the bin.
Warrnambool police Detective Sergeant Andrew Raven said an air ambulance was called to the scene, but paramedics could not revive the boy.
The boy's grandfather Bruce Membrey said it was a tragic accident which had left the family reeling.
"He was a cheerful, bubbly little two-year-old who loved running around and playing and fixing things," he said.
"We are all together in town at the moment having some tea and trying to come to terms with it.
"He would have been three in April."
Mr Membrey said the toddler had two older sisters who were aged seven and four.
"The older one is asking a lot of questions, the other is becoming very, very clingy."
Detective Sergeant Raven said police would prepare a report for the coroner.
“It was a working farm where a member of the family was using a tractor,” he said.
“On the back of the tractor was a large bin used to spread fertiliser and that has come off the back of the tractor and struck the young boy.
“It is yet to be determined what happened, but at some point, unbeknown to the driver, the child wandered into the area and this bin fell down and struck him.”
The accident is also being investigated by WorkSafe.
“It's a traumatic and difficult time for the family members, as well as police and emergency services workers who attended the scene,” he said.
“We do see serious accidents occur on farms involving machinery quite often, on this occasion it is a tragic accident.”