Dramatic Video Captures Moments When Children Plunged Through Ice In Central Park

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Cell phone video captured young people struggling after plunging into an icy pond in Central Park.

Tourist Lourdes Cuevas took a selfie with her daughter, unknowingly capturing the group of kids just seconds before the ice cracked beneath them.

"I was shocked, I'm not going to lie," Cuevas tells CBS2's Andrea Grymes. "I was shocked, petrified."

The incident took place Monday night in the pond in the southeast corner of Central Park.

Six children plunged through the ice after venturing out onto it to take a selfie at around 5:55 p.m.

13-year-old Lamar Gibson was part of the group who wandered onto the ice.

"I didn't want to go on the ice because I had a feeling the ice was going to break," he said.

"We were going to take a picture on the ice, and then one of my friends slipped, and once he fell, we all fell in the water," 13-year-old Kevin McQueen told CBS2's Valerie Castro.

McQueen told Castro that the group opted to take the picture despite signs warning of thin ice.

"We started to throw stuff on the ice to see if it would break, and it wouldn't break, so then we went on the ice," McQueen said.

McQueen described the harrowing moments after the group plunged through the ice.

"My chest was closing up, like I couldn't breathe," he said. "We were all sinking down, and we were all holding on to each other."

Two tourists who were nearby jumped into the water to help the children before emergency responders arrived at the scene.

"He went in the water, man. I was like halfway in. So yeah, we were just shoveling them out," said Ethan Turnbull. "The last one was unconscious, and the other three were failing as well."

"I just had to get them out of the water. That's all I had to do," he added. "The last one was unconscious. He wasn't getting out on his own. He was frothing at the mouth."

Gibson says he also tried to help his friends before making his way out of the water.

"I was trying to help, just push them toward the land," he said.

"I had to swim over and get them in," Bennett Jonas said. "I just had to just grab him and as hard as I could pull, and as hard as I could go to get him out. It's do or die. I either went after him and grabbed him, or he would not be here tonight."

"I want to thank that gentleman for saving my little brother and saving the other kids," McQueen's sister Noemi Rosario said.

All of the children were taken to a hospital and are expected to recover. Gibson's grandmother says she's grateful her grandson is okay, but he's grounded.

"He didn't ask permission to go over there to Central Park," Betty Brown said. "Thank God he's alright but he's under punishment."

The FDNY tells CBS2 this is a good reminder for everyone that with the warm weather we've had, going onto ice is not a good idea -- a lesson these young people will likely never forget.

As CBS2's Meg Baker reported, a similar situation unfolded in Hopatcong, New Jersey on Sunday. First responders pulled a fisherman to safety.

Firefighter Jim Madar demonstrated how it's done, walking out onto the ice, pulling a sled and wearing a water rescue suit.

"They protect you from the cold and they help you to float. So they're very great in the water. You could be in the water for two hours in these conditions and be fine," he said.

Without the special suit?

"Generally, you'd have 15 to 20 minutes tops," Fire Captain Wade Crowley said.

Then, you'll start to lose control of your limbs.

"Once you start getting hypothermic in that cold, it begins to feel like it's skin burning your skin. Your skin starts to feel like it's burning, and it hurts and it's very painful," EMS responder Henry Sarbina said.

If you find yourself in that situation, first responders say there are a few things you can do to help yourself. First, scream as loudly as you can.

"Try to exert yourself, like you're trying to give yourself a big push to swim and jump up onto the ice, and belly yourself like a whale," Sarbina said.

The next step is up to the first responders.

"We need to cut all the clothes off completely, down to just the bare skin, to your birthday suit, and they try to wipe off and dry the water as much as possible," he said.

Next, hot blankets to raise the victim's body temperature.

The team of volunteers said it practices rescues like this monthly in order to be prepared.