9-year-old girl drowns in Naperville pond

A 9-year-old girl playing on a pond in the White Eagle subdivision in Naperville drowned Thursday after she fell through the ice, police said.

The girl was identified as Maheen Ahmad, of the 2600 block of Saddlebrook Drive.

Naperville Police Cmdr. Ray Adkins said three children were playing on top of ice covering a pond alongside Aviara Court near Saddlebrook Drive when two of them fell into the water. The third child did not fall through the ice and was not injured.

One of the children was able to get out of the pond with assistance from a neighbor who saw the youngsters fall into the pond, according to the Naperville Fire Department.

Naperville police were called at 1 p.m., and fire department divers located the girl and removed her from the water at 1:25 p.m., police said.

Both children were transported to Edward Hospital in Naperville where the girl was pronounced dead, Adkins said.

The DuPage County Coroner's office will perform an autopsy, but say all evidence points to the death as accidental.

The second child, an 8-year-old boy, was in good condition early Thursday evening, Naperville Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Veseling said.

Though it hardly seems cold enough lately to produce ice, Veseling said a thin layer did cover the retention pond.

"It was just thick enough that they walked out a couple of steps and fell through," he said.

Two neighbors saw the accident and ran to the water's edge. One of them waded into the pond and was able to grab the boy, who was between 10 to 15 feet away from shore by that point, Veseling said.

The 9-year-old girl was farther out.

Though the adults - who Veseling said were heroes - tried reach her, the girl slid under the ice.