Two children rescued from North Saskatchewan River

EDMONTON- Two children have been rescued, after falling into the North Saskatchewan River late Sunday afternoon.

Fire crews say a six-year-old and a nine-year-old were playing on the ice when they fell through. It happened near Rundle Park around 4:30p.m. Sunday.

Rescue crews say witnesses saw a passerby and his dog run onto the ice and pulled one of the children from the water.

“The other (child) actually got under the water there, and he actually jumped in the water, along with his dog, which was a black lab we believe,” explained District Chief John Bower with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services.

Bower says the details about what happened from there are still “sketchy” but, “we have an unconfirmed report that the child actually got a hold of the leash of the dog and the dog actually pulled (the child) to safety,” he said.

“It was very heroic and if he didn’t do what he did, maybe these children might not be around right now,” Bower added.

Rescue crews arrived on scene shortly after and pulled both children to safety.

Bower says the nine-year-old child was suffering from hypothermia and was taken to hospital. He says the six-year-old was in good spirits.

Bower says this is a harsh reminder of how dangerous the river can be this time of year.

“It’s a very dangerous proposition to be anywhere near a river at this time of year,” he explained. “We recommend that people use extreme caution this time of year. It’s beautiful, the spring weather, but stay off the river because the changing ice conditions make it extremely dangerous.”