People are putting out sticks to mourn the death of a 10-year-old hockey player killed in a tragic accident on Christmas Day. According to CBC news, the young boy was killed while travelling over ice with his father on an ATV near Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. The side-by-side broke through the ice and became submerged.
The 10-year-old was a well-known member of the local minor hockey association. In a show of solidarity for the family, people in the community put out sticks on their front porches the way many did following the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018.
"You can only imagine how the town feels today," Clarenville Mayor Frazer Russell told CBC. "The town will have to be strong and be there with [the family] during this terrible time in their lives."
Russell said the incident happened on a small body of water popular with ice skaters.
"We're not talking about the ocean here," he said, "it was just a little, small, pocket of water."
Local RCMP, firefighters and community members managed to get the boy from the water while he was still alive. Sadly, he passed away later in hospital on Christmas night.
Clarenville, a town of about 6,300 people is approximately 190 kilometres away from St. John's.
Source: CBC News
