Humboldt in mourning after three people die in nearby lake

The community of Humboldt is in mourning following the deaths of three people who fell through the ice on a lake about 10 minutes south of the city.

In a release Monday, the RCMP said officers were called Saturday at around 2:20 p.m., to a house on Humboldt Lake to assist the Humboldt Fire Department and local paramedics who were responding to a report that several people had fallen through the ice into the lake.

According to witnesses, five people were in the water, and three of them could be seen in open water where the ice near the shore was broken.

A woman and two girls were pulled from the water by firefighters. The woman and one of the girls were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, but the second girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two men who went into the water didn’t resurface; their bodies were recovered Sunday by RCMP divers.

650 CKOM has learned the victims were Ava Novecosky, a Grade 2 student at St. Dominic School in Humboldt, and two members of her extended family, Chris Novecosky and Joe Novecosky.

Humboldt Mayor Michael Behiel didn’t confirm the victims’ names, but called the deaths a tragedy.

“It’s a very sad day overall in the city of Humboldt because of what happened,” he said.

Behiel said he knew the victims personally through the small community.

“They were salt-of-the-earth people,” he said. “They are smalltown prairie folk, and they were great people overall.”

The mayor reminded members of the community to pay attention to water safety rules and signage.

“Think twice before you venture out onto the ice to make sure that it is thick enough and solid enough to support you,” Behiel said.

Behiel said there hasn’t been an incident on the lake for many decades.

In the community surrounding the lake, nobody was willing to speak about the events that happened Saturday out of respect for the families who were impacted by the tragedy.

Anyone walking through the community and going door to door could tell people were hurting and emotional. Most couldn’t believe something like this happened and didn’t want to recount the frightening events that took place on their doorsteps.

On Monday, the water in the lake was moving freely and there didn’t appear to be any ice left. The lake could’ve been a little icier over the weekend as the area did experience cooler temperatures. There were ponds and small pockets of water in the area still frozen from the cooler temperatures.

– With files from 650 CKOM’s Shane Clausing