FAYETTEVILLE — February 7, 1996 - 10:25 p.m.

Related WRAL Audio Files:Jerry Rivas arrived at the accident scene early and tried to help. Listen to 135Kaufile.

An 8-year-old boy was killed and a companion critically injured Wednesday after they fell into an icy pond in Harnett County.

Michael Waegner died Wednesday night at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. A second boy, Christopher Rhodes, was listed in critical condition at Duke Medical Center. and were taken to Womack Army Hospital for treatment.

The two boys have been identified as Christopher Rhodes and Michael Waegner. A third child was with them, and ran to get help when his friends fell through the ice. A neighbor called 911.

One of the boys was in the frigid water for 30 to 45 minutes before an emergency rescue worker pulled him out. A dive team rescued the other after he had been submerged for about an hour.

Both children were first taken to Womack Army Medical Center. Rhodes was later airlifted to Duke Hospital and admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit.

The pond is an irrigation pond on a farm adjacent to the mobile home park where the boys reportedly lived, just off Shady Grove Road near the Harnett-Cumberland county line.

Two other incidents of children falling through ice were reported Wednesday -- one in Cumberland County, the other in Greensboro, but no injuries occurred