KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — A teenager died after playing with friends on the frozen surface of a Georgia lake and falling through the ice into frigid water, authorities said Thursday.
Residents of Kennesaw north of Atlanta called 911 Wednesday evening after seeing several young people playing on a sheet of ice that covered a portion of the small lake's surface. They reported hearing screams as the ice gave way beneath two of the teens, plunging them into the water.
“Two boys in the water, one seemed to be holding onto the ice well," witness Allison Cerqueda told WXIA-TV. "The other one, his head was going down and coming up.”
One of the boys was rescued by police officers who were among the first emergency responders to arrive, Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services said in a statement Thursday.
Rescue crews using inflatable boats pulled the second teen from the lake roughly 90 minutes after they were dispatched, the fire department's statement. The 16-year-old boy died despite efforts to resuscitate him.
Fire officials said four rescue crew members were treated for cold exposure after working more than an hour in freezing water where the temperature was about 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2 degrees Celsius) .
The name of the boy who died was not immediately released.
The death came amid days of unseasonably frigid December weather across the South that has caused frozen water pipes to burst and other problems.
