London, Jan. 9: Two of three brothers from the same family, thought to be Indian, perished yesterday when they stepped onto a frozen lake and the ice cracked under their combined weight.

The brothers, who were aged between 40 and 50, were said, at first, to be scattering ashes from a cremation in the lake in Watermead Country Park, Thurmaston, on the edge of Leicester, an East Midlands city with a large Indian- origin population.

But it seems more likely that they had ventured out to feed ducks and other birds. They did not quite realise that the ice was not strong enough about 30 metres from the edge when they fell in.

Once in, they probably became trapped under the ice and panicked. Hypothermia must have set in rapidly, rendering them unconscious.

Britain, along with much of northern Europe, is currently facing one of the longest sustained spells of bitterly cold weather with temperatures everywhere dropping to record levels. In parts of Scotland, the temperature has fallen below -20 degrees Celsius. Even in London, some roads and pathways are sheets of ice.

Despite warnings from the police, children are venturing out on to frozen lakes and rivers in what for many is a new experience.

According to Ramanbhai Barber, an Indian temple leader in Leicester and honoured recently with an OBE for his services to the community: “Many Indians in Leicester have not seen snow before.”

More accurately, they have probably not seen snow and ice for such a long period.

There were four men involved in yesterday’s tragedy. “We believe that three are brothers from the same Indian family,” Barber told The Telegraph.

Leicestershire police said it was called, along with the fire service, paramedics, the air ambulance and the East Midlands Air Support Unit, at about 2.30pm yesterday.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Hurst said: “The initial reports were that four men had gone through the ice. It has now been established that three men entered the water. Four men were taken to hospital. Two subsequently died. The third was treated and discharged.”

The four were taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary hospital, where a spokeswoman said that despite the best efforts of highly-trained staff in the accident and emergency department, two of men could not be resuscitated. The third man was released after treatment. She confirmed the three men were brothers.

Eyewitness Alex Varley, 18, explained that he and friends were sledging at the country park when they heard screaming and splashing in the water.

He described what happened: “We ran over, there was a man in the water struggling and from what I could see there were what looked like two jackets floating in the water which later turned out to be two other people.

“One of my mates and two other lads went out and managed to get the one out who was struggling. But they couldn’t get close enough to get the other two out. They weren’t moving or anything.”

Flying inches from the ice, the police helicopter crew was able to pull one of the seriously injured men out of the water.

The other man was removed by firefighters using inflatable rescue paths.