A man died and his brother survived after falling into an icy pond in upstate New York while fishing last week, authorities said.Photo:New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
One man died and his brother survived after the two of them plunged into an icy pond in upstate New York when they were fishing on Jan. 6.
Forest ranger Nate Lymon immediately arrived at the scene, according to DEC, and saw one of the men treading water but not the other person.
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“The Ranger entered the ice, crawled toward the 42-year-old from Richfield Springs, and used a throw bag to help the subject out of the water. The subject grabbed the rope and Ranger Laymon pulled him onto a sled,” per the DEC’s statement.
The department said that the ice at the time was about one inch thick and “unsafe for fishing.” Ina section about safety while ice fishingon its website, the DEC said: “ A minimum of three to four inches of solid ice is the general rule for safety. Ice thickness, however, is not uniform on any body of water…Since ice thickness can vary on a lake, check the ice periodically to stay safe.”
The incident in upstate New York occurred a day aftertwo brothers, aged 6 and 8, fell through the ice of a retention pond in Wisconsinand later died, Sun Prairie Police Department Assistant Chief Shunta Boston confirmed to PEOPLE.
“This is a tragedy that is one of those things that’s very important that we do report out to our public to keep them informed,” Boston said.
The brothers were taken to a hospital in critical condition. The older boy died on Jan. 6 and the younger one died on Jan. 8, Boston said.
source: people.com
