16-year-old drowns rescuing little brother after they fall through ice, OH officials say

A tragic chain of events unfolded Tuesday after teen siblings plunged through the ice on an Ohio lake, officials say.

Around 6:30 p.m., a 13-year-old boy screamed for help from a dock on Rocky Fork Lake, WLWT reported. A contractor heard the teen’s cries and called 911.

“I’m at Rocky Fork. I had some little kid come up to me and said his sister’s in the water dead,” the caller said, according to the outlet. “He come running up to us saying, ‘Somebody please help me, please help me.’”

Officials arrived at the scene and learned the boy and his 16-year-old sister had fallen through the ice on the lake, WCPO reported. The girl drowned.

Officials said the girl rescued her brother before her death.

“After the fact, it turns out that she got him out before she succumbed,” Branden Jackman of the Paint Creek Joint EMS and Fire District told WCPO. “Don’t go out on the ice. It caused a very bad tragedy last night.”

Divers searched for the girl for hours before pulling her body from under the ice around 11 p.m., WXIX reported. The boy was hospitalized and is in stable condition.