Tragedy as three brothers die after falling in frozen pond
A community is in shock after three brothers - aged six, eight and nine - have died after falling into a frozen pond.
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The tragedy happened in north Texas as swathes of the US have been hit by a deadly winter storm.
Their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman was told about the accident when her daughter ran over to her, shouting that the boys had fallen in.
Ms Hangaman, a mother of six, told CBS News she "couldn't save them".
The children had been playing near the pond, about 100ft away from the house where the family had been staying in at Bonham, 60 miles from Dallas.
The youngest fell through first after trying to "ice skate", prompting the two older boys to jump in to try and save him.
Authorities have not yet released the children's names, but they have been named locally as Howard Doss, six, Kaleb Doss, eight, and EJ Doss, nine.
While trying to save them, Ms Hangaman began to struggle and was rescued by a neighbour.
"I tried to fight for my kids' life, where I had to watch them struggle and drown and I couldn't help them," she said.
The neighbour, a football coach at the school the boys went, heard her shouts and pulled her out of the water.
"He said he heard the screaming or the call for help and came running. My friend had a horse rope, and he pulled me out with it," Hangaman said.
Read more: At least 17 people killed as US winter storm sparks travel chaos and power outages
'Tragic'
In a statement released yesterday, Fannin County Sheriff's office said the two older boys were pulled out of the water first by emergency workers and a neighbour, before being rushed to a local hospital.
The six-year-old was later recovered after "an extensive search of the pond" and pronounced dead.
Ms Hangaman described her boys as full of personality and urged families to "make sure that you hold your kids tight, always tell them that you love them".
The sheriff's office added: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and all affected by this tragic incident."
More than 20 people have been killed and thousands have been left without power as the storm wreaks havoc on the US, affecting half the population.
Parts of Minnesota and North Dakota saw bitterly cold temperatures such as minus 46C while some states saw more than a foot of snow.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 800,000 households had lost power, according to poweroutage.us. Meanwhile, more than 11,000 flights were cancelled, FlightAware reported.
