4. Four boys age 7 to 11 drowned
when a group of seven boys plunged through thin ice.
10. The catastrophe left four boys
dead, their families crushed and rescue workers shaken following an afternoon
of fighting a river of broken ice, the steep mud-covered bank and driving rain.
11. Dead are William Rodriguez,
11, of 292 Howard St.; Christopher Casado, 7, of 18 Jasper Court; Mackendy
Constant, 8, of 7 Clinton St.; and Victor Baez, 9, 46 Bernard Ave.
12. Surviving the incident were Francis Spraus, 9, 14 School St.; Christopher's brother Ivan Casado, 9, 18 Jasper Court; Jaycob Morales, 10, 4 Winslow Place.
12. Surviving the incident were Francis Spraus, 9, 14 School St.; Christopher's brother Ivan Casado, 9, 18 Jasper Court; Jaycob Morales, 10, 4 Winslow Place.
1. As seven boys finished their
snack run from the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club to Hanson's Market yesterday
afternoon, a sudden urge to slide around prompted 11-year-old William Rodriguez
to dash for the serene expanse of river ice.
9. It was a playful impulse that
ended with his plunge through the ice, setting off an ill-fated rescue attempt
that deteriorated into a mass of desperate children clinging to each other in
35-degree water.
15. "Willie said he wanted to
go down to the river, to slide on the Ice," Ivan said. “We tried to stop
him.”
2. The ice was one to two inches
thick where they ventured off the river bank. Four inches is considered the
minimum to support more than one person, and river ice may not be safe even at
that thickness because of currents and other factors.
5. Lawrence and Andover
firefighters equipped with ice rescue suits arrived and after a search of the
area where the boys went in, found the four remaining boys under the ice, 25
feet from shore in 15-20 feet of water.
18. "My legs started to get
stiff, and I had a freezing headache," Francis said. "I was hanging
on to Christopher, but he started to slip under. I tried holding on to his
hand, but it was like he let go."
6. Because of the steep embankment,
rescuers were forced to use ladders to bring the children up off the river to
the waiting ambulances.
3. Police said the four dead boys
were trapped under the ice at least 10 minutes.
8. It was the worst local
Merrimack River tragedy in nearly a century.
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