POLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) — A vigil will be held Wednesday evening for the 13-year-old student, Rayan A. Issa, who died Tuesday while on a school field trip to Range Pond.
Police are asking for anyone who was at the Range Pond State Park Tuesday and may have witnessed all or part of the incident to please call the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office at (207) 753-2599.
Police say Rayan was underwater for more than 20 minutes on the field trip at Range Pond State Park in Poland.
Officials say the seventh-grader from Lewiston Middle School was taken to Central Maine Medical Center where he was pronounced dead Tuesday afternoon, June 12.
According to superintendent Bill Webster, the middle schooler was playing football in a roped off area in the water when he slipped and fell.
Students notified lifeguards and support staff right away according to Webster. The water was reportedly murky and deep. The boy was found unconscious after about a 20-minute search.
Androscoggin County Sheriff's Department is investigating the death.
Webster says the community is shocked and saddened by the accident. Grief counselors are being made available for both students and faculty. The parents of the boy have been notified but his name has not yet been released.
A vigil will be held in Rayan Issa's honor Wednesday night at the Lewiston Middle School at 6:00 p.m.