Two south-east Queensland communities are in mourning after the deaths of two young girls yesterday in two separate incidents.

The first accident happened at Kingsthorpe, west of Toowoomba, early yesterday morning.

Police say a six-year-old girl was seriously injured when a kangaroo darted across the Warrego Highway and crashed through the windscreen of her parents’ car.

The young girl was taken to Toowoomba Hospital and placed on life support but died late yesterday.

Dam drowning

In a separate incident at Laidley. west of Brisbane, an eight-year-old girl drowned while swimming in Lake Dyer.

Her mother noticed her missing and called for help.

Police and locals began an immediate search and the little girl was found a short time later submerged in shallow water about 10 metres from a boat ramp.

Witnesses have told police they saw her playing with an inflatable tube before she disappeared.

Ambulance officers tried to revive her but she was pronounced dead on the way to hospital.