Three killed after falling through ice at Arizona lake

COCONINO COUNTY, Ariz. — Three people have died after falling through the ice at a lake in Arizona.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that it had recovered the bodies of three people, identified as Narayana Muddana, Gokul Mediseti and Haritha Muddana, from Woods Canyon Lake. The three victims, originally from India, lived in Chandler and were walking on the ice when they fell through, deputies said.

The three victims had been with a larger group, comprised of three families, and had driven up to enjoy the outdoors the day after Christmas, KNXV reported.

“They were up here, recreationally, enjoying it. Wanted to get some pictures on the ice,” Jon Paxton, a spokesperson for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, told KNXV.

Deputies pulled Muddana out of the water as soon as they arrived at the scene, but were unable to save her. Deputies said in the news release that they rented a boat from a facility at the lake to conduct an expanded search before finding the two male victims.

The Muddana’s neighbor, Kishore Pittala, told KPNX that the couple has two young daughters ages 7 and 11.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Pittala told the station. “They were in shock. I could clearly see that in their faces. They were in shock.”

Firefighters at the scene told KNXV that two children and a woman tried to jump in to save the three people who fell through the ice, but said they fell as well and were barely able to make it back to the shore.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the family.