LAWRENCE -- Four boys age 7 to 11 drowned when a group of seven boys plunged through thin ice yesterday afternoon.

It was the worst local Merrimack River tragedy in nearly a century.

Seven children went through the ice covering the Merrimack River into 15 to 20 feet of water yesterday afternoon. Here, Lawrence Firefighter William Cunningham wraps his arms around one of the victims and holds on while other firefighters pull him to shore. (Lisa Poole/Staff photo)

As the seven city boys finished their snack run from the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club to Hanson's Market yesterday afternoon, a sudden urge to slide around prompted 11-year-old William Rodriguez to dash for the serene expanse of river ice.

It was a playful impulse that ended with his plunge through the ice, setting off an ill-fated rescue attempt that deteriorated into a mass of desperate children clinging to each other in 35-degree water.

The catastrophe left four boys dead, their families crushed and rescue workers shaken following an afternoon of fighting a river of broken ice, the steep mud-covered bank and driving rain.

Dead are William Rodriguez, 11, of 292 Howard St.; Christopher Casado, 7, of 18 Jasper Court; Mackendy Constant, 8, of 7 Clinton St.; and Victor Baez, 9, 46 Bernard Ave.

Police said the four dead boys were trapped under the ice at least 10 minutes.

The ice was one to two inches thick where they ventured off the river bank. Four inches is considered the minimum to support more than one person, and river ice may not be safe even at that thickness because of currents and other factors.

Surviving the incident were Francis Spraus, 9, 14 School St.; Christopher's brother Ivan Casado, 9, 18 Jasper Court; Jaycob Morales, 10, 4 Winslow Place.

Ivan and Francis were released from the hospital last night, and recalled the story from its quiet start -- Ivan and Christopher meeting Francis at his home for a 10 a.m. walk to the Boys & Girls Club.

They were too late to sign up for the free throw shooting contest that was scheduled for to follow the club's weekly basketball shoot around, so they teamed up with four friends, playing bumper board and watching the basketball movie, "Like Mike."

They went next door to Hanson's for snack food, and Rodriguez had an idea when they came out.

"Willie said he wanted to go down to the river, to slide on the Ice," Ivan said.

"But we said no," said Francis. "So we tried to stop him."

Willie bolted toward the river, according to Francis, and the rest of the group ran to catch up. William cleared a roughly 15-foot-high dirt berm, and was on the water when the other six boys caught up.

"He was in the middle of the river," Francis said, Ivan finishing the sentence: "Then the ice broke and he fell down in the water."

There was no cry for help.

"He couldn't cause every time he opened his mouth water got in," Francis said.

Mackendy Constant, perhaps the smallest of the boys, ran on the ice to Willie, according to Francis. He took off his jacket and, holding on to one arm, he tossed the other to Willie.

"Willie's a lot bigger than him," said Francis. "So when he pulled on the jacket it pulled him in too."

The ice broke around the two boys, prompting the remaining on the bank locked arms and walk onto the ice to rescue them. The ice collapsed under their weight.

"Then we all fell in," said Francis. "I thought I was going to drown."

"I thought I was going to drown too," Ivan said.

Ivan was closest to the river bank when the ice broke. Soaked from the waist down, he jumped ashore.

"I told him to run and call the police," Francis said.

Francis held on to Jaycob Morales and Ivan's brother Christopher Casado.

"I was kicking my legs and holding Jaycob up ... on the ice ledge," Francis said.

Ivan said he ran to the first door he saw and roused Jacques Fournier, 63, 10 Caulkins Court.

"I saw this little boy walking towards me," Fournier said. "Not running. He looked exhausted."

Fournier, a retired city maintenance worker, said he told his wife to call police, while he grabbed a rope.

While Fournier and Ivan ran back to the river, Francis was barely holding on.

"My legs started to get stiff, and I had a freezing headache," he said. "I was hanging on to Christopher, but he started to slip under. I tried holding on to his hand, but it was like he let go."

It was then Fournier and Ivan got back to the bank, Francis said. Fournier made a desperate attempt to save the boys.

"I threw the rope out once and it landed too far away, so I threw it out again, and again it was too far for them to reach," he said, recalling his pleas for them "to hang on, hang on."

By the time Fournier made his third attempt the first rescue workers had arrived, he said. Rescuers first pulled Francis and Jacob from the water, and Francis, Jaycob, and Ivan were taken to Lawrence General Hospital.

Lawrence Police Chief John J. Romero said Officers Ryan Guthrie, Carlos Vieira and Alan Demers arrived on the scene first, went out onto the ice and pulled the two boys who were floating on the surface to safety.

By then Lawrence and Andover firefighters equipped with ice rescue suits had arrived and after a search of the area where the boys went in, found the four remaining boys under the ice, 25 feet from shore in 15-20 feet of water.

Because of the steep embankment, rescuers were forced to use ladders to bring the children up off the river to the waiting ambulances. Members of the state police, Lawrence Police and Merrimack Valley dive teams entered the 38-degree water and conducted an area search to be sure no one was left behind.

In the aftermath of the incident, Ivan and Christopher's mother, and Francis' mother Alicia Spraus are wondering how this could happen when the boys were supposed to be at the cub.

"She wants to know how the kids were let go without the parents coming to pick them up," said Alicia through her son through Juan Nunez, 17.

But Boys & Girls Club director Markus Fischer, who did not know any of the boys by name, said the club has an open door policy and it is not uncommon for some of the 3,100 members to walk home.

"That is very common -- a good portion of our kids access the club by walking home to and from the club," Fischer said. "I think we need to find out more of the facts at this point. There are so many unanswered questions; we need to sort out what happened. Obviously, our prayers are with those families and with those kids."

The boys' venture onto the ice was witnessed by Ronald Rand, 15, and friend Damon Mustapha, 13, who were walking along the high banking separating the river from the end of Caulkins court. Rand said he warned the boys but was rebuffed, and when he passed by again moments later, they were gone.

"They were out there sliding around," Rand said, "and one of them said, 'I am superman -- I'll jump through the ice if I fall in."