Two children have died after falling into an icy lake in upstate New York.
The tragic incident unfolded at around 4:35 p.m. Saturday when a 12-year-old boy is believed to have been walking across the frozen Washington Park Lake in Albany in the direction of a lake house.
The boy fell through the ice and plunged into the freezing water below, Albany Police Department said.
An 11-year-old girl then heroically dove into the water to try to save him, police said.
A Times Union reporter who happened to be in the area at the time said they overheard a person screaming and thrashing in the water and called 911.
Max Fajardo, another passerby and member of the National Guard, told the outlet he also noticed the commotion, saying the girl “was trying to be a hero.” He rushed to his car to grab a rope to try to help.
Officers responding to the scene then managed to wade through the lake and find the girl.
She was given CPR at the scene and rushed to Albany Medical Center Hospital in critical condition.
Later that evening, the New York State Police’s underwater recovery team found the boy’s body.
Three days later, Albany Police anounced that the girl had also died from her injuries.
“This is a very tragic situation. The young girl went in to try and ultimately save the young boy and didn’t know what the situation was,” Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox told Times Union Saturday.
The identities of the two children, who were both students at Albany City School District, have not been released.
