6-year-old boy dies after falling through ice on Aitkin County lake

Authorities say a six-year-old boy drowned in a small lake in Aitkin County Sunday afternoon.

The boy was on a lake that was typically used as an ice-skating rink located in Pliny Township, according to the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office. Due to recent weather, the lake was covered in snow. CPR was initiated after a family member found him not breathing in waist-deep water.

Multiple agencies were called to an area east of Highway 65 off of County Road 2 at 1:36 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office says response times were delayed due to the 14 inches of fresh snow in the area, and a snowmobile was needed to take the boy to a navigable road, where an ambulance was waiting.

The cause of death has been confirmed by the medical examiner’s office as a drowning.

As of this time, the boy’s name isn’t being released due to family notification.

No other details about the incident, or what led up to it, were immediately provided.