A 12 year old girl died and a 9 year old girl required hospitalization when a snow fort they were playing in collapsed in Arlington Heights, IL. According to a statement released by the Arlington Heights Police Department and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, Esther Jung, 12, and another girl, 9, were attending church services with their families when the girls went outside to play in a nearby snowbank. According to the police, the families of the girls began looking for them about an hour later and found them under the snow; it appears a makeshift fort the girls had built collapsed on top of them.
According to authorities, 12-year-old Esther Jung of Elk Grove Village, died of accidental asphyxiation and hypothermia. The 9 year old, who was released from the hospital today, was treated for hypothermia.