A 5-year-old is dead and four other children were in serious condition after being submerged in a frigid Minnesota pond for half an hour of more after a car accident, authorities said.
The children, who ranged in age from 1 to 7, were not responsive when rescuers got to them, a city spokesman told the Associated Press. The state police later listed one of the children as deceased and four as being in serious condition.
The driver of the Pontiac Grand Am, Marion Guerrido, 23, escaped when it landed in the water, state police said. She had no apparent injuries.
The incident happened off a highway ramp in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, at 6:10 a.m. The water in the pond was at least eight feet deep and near freezing.
State Patrol spokesman Lt. Eric Roeske said passersby and a person who lived in a nearby apartment jumped into the pond to rescue the kids but the bottom was too mucky.
When emergency workers arrived, "we found there were five other occupants, all children,” he said. It took between 25 and 45 minutes to get them out.
Roeske said it was a "traumatic incident for all involved."
He said it was unclear why the car went off the ramp and into the pond. The road was wet but not icy, he said.
"As far as the weather conditions, it was kind of misting," Roeske said.
"As far as fog being a significant factor that will be something we determine through the course of the investigation."