Bonham, Texas– Three brothers — ages 6, 8, and 9 — died in Texas during the war Huge winter storm authorities said Tuesday that she had fallen into an icy pond across the street from a house where they were staying.
The Fannin County Sheriff’s Office said the two brothers fell into a private pond Monday north of Bonham, a rural community of about 10,000 people near the Oklahoma border. First responders and a neighbor pulled the two older boys from the water and the younger brother was recovered after an extensive search in the pond, according to the sheriff.
Their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, said Fox 4 television station She tried to save her two sons after their sister ran to tell her they were in the pond. She and her children were staying at a friend’s house across the street from the pond.
“I started running to the pond and jumping in and trying to save them, and also trying to keep myself alive because the water is frozen,” Hangman said, adding that her body shut down as soon as she jumped.
“I couldn’t do anything,” Hangaman told the TV station. “It was just one of me and three of them. And they all needed me at once and I couldn’t-I couldn’t save them.”
Hangaman said the man who came to help was able to throw her a rope to get her out of the pool.
All three boys were in elementary school in the Bonham Independent School District, which canceled classes Monday due to the coronavirus Cold weather That has swept through much of the U.S. The school district was also closed Tuesday due to severe weather conditions, including icy roads and freezing temperatures.
“We are devastated by this unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family, friends and everyone who knew and loved these children,” Superintendent Lance Hamlin said in a letter to parents.
On Tuesday, a layer of ice still covered much of the small pond in a wooded area.
More than 40 deaths were reported in states affected by the extreme cold.
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Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas. Associated Press writer Cathy McCormack contributed to this report from Concord, New Hampshire.