13-year-old dies trying to save twin from drowning in Florida lake

MIAMI, Fla. (WFLA) — Police have identified two 13-year-old boys who drowned in a south Florida lake last week.

Miami-Dade police said Andrew and Alex Paul just turned 13 on March 1, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ. The twin brothers drowned in the lake at Arthur Woodward Park on April 7.

Police said the first boy fell into the lake while playing with a group of children along an embankment. His brother jumped in after him in an attempt to save him, but neither child knew how to swim.

The twins were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. They later died from their injuries.

Neighbors and family friends are calling for a fence to be installed around the lake in the wake of the tragedy.

“Put that place secure for those kids because I don’t want more kids to be a victim of that place,” family friend Adelene D’Haiti told WTVJ. “Today it’s [the Pauls’ mother], tomorrow it can be other kids, other parents.”