Life and Death on Thin Ice: 12-Year-Old Boy Killed, Girl Left Fighting for Her Life 

United States: An 11-year-old girl is fighting for her life and a 12-year-old boy has died after falling into the ice at Washington Park Lake in Albany, New York, on Saturday. The boy was tragically found dead at the scene, and the hero girl is in very critical condition after she fell in while trying to save him. 

The call came into the Albany Police Department around 4:at 30 p.m. by an eyewitness, who claimed that two children had slipped in the ice close to the park’s lake house, the department said in a Facebook post on Sunday. Emergency response team arrived the scene seven minutes later the Times Union New reported. 

The initial officers who arrived at the scene identified the girl, who the police think saw the boy fall through the ice and tried to cross the lake in a bid to rescue him. 

As reported by the CNN, a girl was picked from the water and attended to on the spot before being taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital. She had been admitted in critical condition as of Sunday this week as confirmed on a statement from North Albany Middle School. 

Members of the New York State Police Underwater Recovery Team conducted a second search of the lake, where they recovered the body of the 12-year-old boy around 7:25 p.m. 

There was also a specialized water unit with water rescue equipment released to the scene, with the Albany Chief of Fire and Emergency Services Joseph Gregory telling the Times Union. 

Officials involved in the case estimate that the boy tried to go towards the lake house on foot on what was seemingly thick ice when it gave in. Washington park’s lake is about 1,600 feet long, 140 wides, with its water depth varying from 6.6 to over eleven feet as per the data from the Washington Park Conservancy. 

“All firefighters involved; they did a great job in the operation that we had there. We’re very proud for what they did,” Gregory said. “It was a difficult surgery for all those who participated in it.” 

Mayor Kathy Sheehan in her statement sent to CNN also thanked first responders and recovery teams for their services and expressed her condolences to the families of both children.