Child hospitalized after 4 fall through ice on northern Vermont lake

NEWPORT, Vt. (AP) — A 3-year-old fell through ice on Lake Memphremagog in northern Vermont with two adults and another child on a side-by-side recreational vehicle over the weekend and was later hospitalized, Newport Police said Tuesday.

By the time police responded Saturday evening, the four were out of the water, and three people ran toward the officers pulling a sled carrying a man doing chest compressions on the 3-year-old, police said in a statement.

Officers pulled the sled to shore while the man continued the chest compressions. Rescue crews met them at the shore and provided aid to the child, who was taken to North Country Hospital.

The other three appeared to be in a state of exhaustion with hypothermia, police said. They were also taken to the hospital. The Newport police chief did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on their condition Tuesday.

A fundraising page for the parents of the child said he is being treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center and has a long road ahead for recovery.

A warming climate has led to thinner ice on lakes in some areas of the country, and an El Nino weather pattern has made winter milder in some places.