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12-year-old girl dies in Illinois snow fort collapse

Posted at 8:39 AM, Jan 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-21 09:39:45-05

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — A 12-year-old girl has died in suburban Chicago after a snow fort collapsed while she was playing outside a church.

Arlington Heights police are calling it a "tragic accident."

Police identified the girl as Esther Jung. She was playing with a 9-year-old girl in the snow outside Rothem Church on Sunday. Their families began looking for him about an hour later and found them under the snow. The younger girl survived.

It's not known how long the girls were trapped. The temperature at the time was about 14 degrees (minus-10 celsius).