Albany Mayor: At least one victim who fell through ice is from migrant family

At least one kid who fell through the ice in Albany’s Washington Park was from a migrant family now living here in the Capital Region, Mayor Kathy Sheehan said. Because of that, they may not be as familiar with the area.

As NewsChannel 13 reported over the weekend, a 12-year-old boy was killed after falling through the ice. An 11-year-old girl then fell through when she ran out to try and save him. She is now in critical condition at the hospital.

“It, again, is just a reminder of how fragile life can be and how important it is that we ensure that our children know, and that everyone in our community knows that venturing out onto the ice is not a safe thing to do on any of the bodies of water here in the city of Albany,” said Sheehan.

Sheehan said more signs in more languages may be needed to warn people.

“Those language barriers do persist, and so we work really hard to print things in multiple languages and we are really focused on working with the school district to ensure that the message gets out to all of the children in the school district about just how dangerous it is to engage in walking out onto that ice,” she said.

The district’s crisis team was meeting with both students and teachers to discuss the tragedy, she said.