Spence Bay (Oct 06/03) - The community of Taloyoak is grieving the loss of two young boys who drowned after falling through thin ice Sept. 27.

Parents and friends rushed to the pond behind Netsilik School around 7 p.m., scrambling to pull the children from the icy water.

Four boys between the ages of 7 and 11 were playing on the ice.

Just the day before the ice had been much thicker, police say.

But a fresh blanket of snow insulated the ice on the pond, making it weaker.

One of the boys, an eight-year-old who spent 20 minutes in the frigid water, was revived at the scene. He was medevaced to Yellowknife, but is back home with his family in Taloyoak.

The boys who died were 11 and seven.

"They played with my kids," recalled Andy Patterson at the hamlet office. "They were always smiling, always friendly."

At the beginning of the freeze up Patterson said elders go on the radio and warn kids to stay off the ice.

"This year I saw them out skating on another pond near the Co-op. Everything looked fine. But this other pond was a bit more exposed," Patterson said. "There was a bit more wind on it, and the ice was just too thin, and they went through."

The community is "extremely upset," said RCMP Cpl. Warren Gauchier.

"The ice around the North is not safe right now," Gauchier stressed. "It can be tricky."

A funeral service was held for one of the two drowning victims at the Anglican church in the community last week.