Pocono News Section

Two Dead After Saving Child From Icy Water

Two Dead After Saving Child From Icy Water - Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 10:17PM EST

NORTH ABINGTON TWP., LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Two men are dead after an ice rescue in Lackawanna County. It started to play out just after 12:30 Saturday afternoon in the Abingtons. That's when a young girl fell into the water.
Two of the men who came to rescue her got in trouble themselves. One died of a heart attack and the other was pulled out after being underwater for several hours. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A sea of first responders and dive team members spent Saturday afternoon at a pond near Craig Road in North Abington Township. Just after 12:30 two young girls were playing on the pond when a 5-year-old girl fell through the ice. Eric Judge of the Waverly Police Department said, “The kids must have been playing there. I don't know how one of them fell in, that’s unclear how the one fell in."

Her sister went to get help. Two other men, a woman and that child used a ladder to try and save the girl. The two men died after saving the little girl.

55-year-old Mark Keene had a heart attack and died at the hospital. Willard Roy Van Fleet Jr. disappeared in the water and was found several hours later. Waverly Police Chief Dan Mooney said, “What we have is two heroes, trying to save kids. Our heart goes out to the family."

The two kids and the woman were not seriously hurt as dive teams responded to the scene. Kevin Howard with the Lackawanna County EMA said, “The rescuers, as stated earlier, were hampered by the ice, the turbidity of the water."

First responders hope this tragedy can send a message as the weather starts to warm up. “Hopefully people can learn the ice is unsafe and they should stay off it," added Howard.

Dive teams from four counties helped out with the deadly ice rescue.