BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Community members are mourning two boys who drowned in a lake in Brockton on Saturday, despite attempts to rescue them.
Rafael Andrande, 13, and Tiago Depina, 12, cousins from Brockton, were skipping stones in the shallow water at Waldo Lake when one of them went over a steep drop off and into the water, according to the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office. The other boy ended up in the water trying to rescue the first.
Crews responding to a reported possible drowning around 7:30 p.m. called members of the Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team, who recovered Andrande at 8:51 p.m. and Depina about an hour later.
The two boys did not know how to swim and no foul play is suspected. Several family members and witnesses in the area made attempts at rescuing the boys but were unsuccessful.
“All of a sudden we heard he was screaming for help,” said Valdo Centeio, who tried to rescue the boys. “I didn’t know where I was going, I just jumped off the car.”
“It’s a tragedy all around,” said Bri Nichols, a youth advocate and candidate for City Council.
“We just don’t know what to do, what to say, we cannot bring them back anymore,” said family friend Elton Nunes. “We just have to keep praying.”
“We are deeply saddened to learn that two members of the South Middle School community died Saturday following a tragic accident,” Brockton Public Schools Superintendent Michael Thomas said in an official statement released on Sunday. “Our hearts are with the students’ family and loved ones as they cope with this unthinkable loss.”
Superintendent Thomas said the district’s school services department will have a team of adjustment counselors available to provide emotional support for students as long as needed.
A vigil is planned for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the lake.
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