Emergency personnel arrived at the scene at 9:45 Wednesday night based on a call that four youths had fallen into the frozen Rideau River.

According to the police, two youths were rescued by paramedics and taken to the hospital. A 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy were treated for mild hypothermia.

During the same night, the police found the body of one of the youths, 17-year-old Ahmed Haytham, during a rescue mission in "very difficult conditions".

On Thursday evening, police confirmed that they had also found the body of a second youth. The victim is 17-year-old Riley Cutter.

A GoFundMe page set up for Ahmed Haitham said Ahmed went down to the river and was just trying to enjoy his winter vacation with his friends. When he reached the river and put on his skates, he took a few steps on the ice and unfortunately the ice broke due to the warmer weather.

Ottawa saw warmer-than-normal temperatures through December, with five consecutive days above zero degrees Celsius.

This tragedy occurred while a wave of similar incidents is being heard across the country. A four-year-old girl also fell into a river in Quebec last week. A family of three in Alberta also died on Christmas Eve after falling through the ice while driving a UTV.

Ontario Provincial Police are warning residents to use caution and assess the ice and extent before venturing onto a frozen lake or river.

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