5-Year-Old Dies in Alaska Sewage Lagoon

A 5-year-old girl playing with her friends died after falling into an Alaskan sewage lagoon, reports Alaska Dispatch News. Daphne Mochin and two friends were hanging out Monday evening when they were seen riding their bikes in the direction of a school playground in the village of Manokotak, KDLG reports. Instead of sticking to the slides and swings, however, the girls apparently headed over to the nearby sewage lagoon, which was reportedly fenced and locked. It appears the girls climbed under the fence, with one local woman saying she thinks they thought it was a place they could swim.

When a dog started barking, a nearby resident hopped the fence and found Daphne unresponsive after pulling her out of the water (the other girls were OK). He was able to resuscitate her and keep her stable until help arrived to get her to a local clinic, then medically evacuated first to a hospital, then to another medical center. While at the final facility, Daphne's "condition again worsened and she eventually succumbed to the effects of the drowning and died," troopers said. She was set to begin kindergarten this fall, KDLG notes. (More Alaska stories.)