Tulsa 6-Year-Old Dies After Falling Through Ice On Joe Creek

A 6-year-old boy has died after falling through the ice while playing on Joe Creek about 2 p.m., Tulsa police have confirmed.

Officials say the child was under the ice for about 30 minutes before he could be rescued. He was unresponsive when pulled from the water and rushed to a hospital. He was pronounced dead just after 3 p.m.

The fire department first said the boy was 3, but his mother confirmed that he is 6 years old.

The boy and his 12-year-old brother reportedly were playing at the creek near Foxfire Apartments, at 73rd Street and Riverside Drive, when the youngest broke through the ice.

James Cook spoke with the 12-year-old right after seeing the brothers next to the creek.

"We asked him what was going on, because he was just staring at the water," Cook said. "And he said, 'My little brother fell through the ice.'"

Scott Williams of EMSA said the 12-year-old attempted to save his brother at first.

After stepping out of the water, two adults jumped in, one of whom said he is the boys' godfather.

"They were down there crushing up the ice, and it's super-duper cold out here," Cook said.

The two men were later joined by emergency rescue crews from the Tulsa Fire Department.

The team quickly rushed down the rocky embankment and began breaking up the ice with pike poles.

The frigid water is only about waist deep, but they said the boy was trapped under an inch of ice for nearly 30 minutes.

Williams said his team had the ambulance as hot as they could get it, in hopes of bringing the little boy's core temperature back up.

"We've all got kids and we all feel that tragedy whenever we're trying to take care of it," Williams said.

Williams said, when rescue crews pulled the boy out of the water, he was in cardiac arrest.

"His body temperature was really low, and we know that those types of situations can sometimes have positive outcomes, because their body temperatures are so low," he said.

The adults and children were all taken to the hospital and are being treated for hypothermia.

"Everybody else was just shaken up, due to the tragedy of what happened in front of them," Williams said.