Melbourne Stories

A triple tragedy for the close-knit Vietnamese community has left police baffled, reports Kathy Marks. They are not much wiser about a mysterious child abduction, which ended happily ? for now

The stately Yarra River that winds through Melbourne, flanked by parks and tree-lined boulevards, is the city's lifeblood. Restaurants overlook its calm waters; rowing boats glide up and down on sunny days and families picnic on its shady banks. One of the suburbs through which the river flows is South Yarra, an enclave of stylish cafes and boutiques. It is not the type of neighbourhood associated with violent crime, which makes recent events seem all the more shocking.

Eleven days ago, Quang Huynh stood on the riverbank and howled as police divers pulled the second of his two sons out of the freezing water. Nam Huynh, 25, and his brother, Viet, 21, drowned after leaping into the Yarra to escape a machete-wielding mob that had just hacked their 19-year-old cousin, James Huynh, to death. The brothers could not swim. James's brother, John, a poor swimmer, also plunged in but managed to scramble out to safety.

The horrific attack followed a late-night altercation in a nightclub called Salt – possibly over a girl – between the four members of one of Melbourne's most prominent Vietnamese families and a gang of Asian men.

Both groups were ejected from the club; outside, the gang summoned more recruits, armed themselves with knives, swords and machetes and – their ranks swollen to about 15 – chased the two sets of brothers 500 yards down Chapel Street, a busy shopping strip.

The men ran for their lives, bleeding from cuts inflicted by beer bottles hurled by their pursuers. James was the slowest; stabbed 12 times, he collapsed in a pool of blood at a brightly lit intersection where Chapel Street meets the river. His brother and cousins jumped into the water, where the gang taunted them, warning them they would be killed like James if they got out. Nam's body was found the next day, Viet's two days later. Each discovery was greeted by heartrending wails from the family, which had been praying and burning incense on the riverbank.

Last Tuesday the trio were buried in a cemetery on the outskirts of Melbourne after a ceremony at a Buddhist temple. John led the funeral procession. One relative, Tuan Huynh, told mourners that the "tears of anguish" had flowed ceaselessly since the men's deaths.

None of the three had been in trouble before. They came from a large, close-knit clan that migrated to Australia 25 years ago. Nam and Viet had just opened a restaurant, while James was a trainee chef in another family eaterie. They worked long hours, spent their free time socialising and playing pool. Nam had got engaged three weeks earlier. On Friday, two men appeared in court charged with the three murders after police raided several homes across the city. The Vietnamese community remains stunned. "We cannot have our children go to a nightclub and come back in a coffin," said Phong Nguyen, a community leader.

Another crime, almost as inexplicable, gripped Melbourne last week. Four-year-old Samara Hnaien was playing in her living room at about 7am when two masked men burst into the house. The intruders handcuffed the girl's mother, Deborah Bick, to a piece of furniture and abducted Samara. A baby boy, who was also in the room, was unharmed.

Ms Bick struggled free and raised the alarm. The worst was feared; then at 10.40pm that evening, Samara – still wearing her fairy-motif pyjamas – walked into an inner-city petrol station clutching a piece of cardboard with her address written on one side.

Everyone sighed with relief, but it seems the abduction was no random act. Scrawled on the other side of Samara's bit of cardboard was a message: "We will be back." There is speculation that the incident was linked with a failed restaurant business run by her Tunisian father, Ali Hnaien. Police are baffled.