Neighbours dug with hands to free Winnipeg boy from collapsed snowbank

WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg woman says she and others dug with their hands to rescue a nine-year-old boy after a snowbank collapsed on him.

Cathy Kinsman, a neighbour of the boy’s family, says he apparently had been playing and somehow got buried.

She says other neighbours came to her door Wednesday night looking for help.

After they pulled the boy out, they started performing CPR until paramedics arrived several minutes later and rushed the boy to hospital.

Police confirm the boy was in critical condition, and say it is unclear whether he was digging a tunnel or doing some other activity when the snow collapsed on him.

Dave MacDonald, head of a cold-weather survival school, says densely packed snow can pin people to the ground, especially young children.