Troy Colson/KTVB

Divers search the water near Black Canyon Dam north of Emmett Tuesday.

EMMETT - Five children are dead after the car they were traveling in plunged in to the icy waters of a pond north of Emmett. The last of five junior high and high school students, died just before 2 p.m.

Troy Colson/KTVB

Ambulances stage near the scene of a car that plunged in to a pond in Gem Co.

The 1989 gray Ford Tempo went off Highway 52 near Plaza Road early this morning. It crashed in about 20 feet of water in a small pond near Black Canyon Reservoir. It landed ten to fifteen feet from the shore.

Divers went in to the water to pull the children from the pond, two of the five were pronounced dead. Idaho State Police reports that the water temperature was 38 degrees at the time of the crash. Dive teams from Gem County, Emmett and Horseshoe Bend responded.

Road conditions were snow-covered and icy, and the crash scene is at a bend in the road. The kids may have been in the water for as long as two hours - as dive crews were scrambled to the scene.

All the bodies were out of the car by 9:30 a.m.

They are from two separate families in the Sweet area, and attend Emmett Junior High School and Emmett High School. Meagan, Tyler and Kyle Walker ranged in age from 13 to 15. The family lived in Eagle before moving to Sweet earlier this year. The teens' parents told four other children in the family late Tuesday afternoon. The family is active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Open scriptures were found with the kids inside the submerged car.

“I don’t think you can describe it,” family spokesperson Lonni Levitt-Barker said. “If you saw their faces, they are devastated.”

NewsChannel 7 has learned that this family lost a 2-year-old girl in a construction accident five years ago. The girl had a twin brother who was not involved in today's crash.

The children from the other family are identified as 15-year-old Brooke Probst and her 12-year-old brother Brandt.

Brooke Probst was the car's driver. The students rode to school together each day.

Walter Knox Memorial Hospital activated its disaster plan at 10:08 a.m., and called in extra staff. The emergency room was immediately staffed with five physicians, and medical workers tried throughout the morning to revive the kids. The last victim died just before 2 p.m.

Grief counselors are on hand at the hospital.

“When you have a tragedy such as this, it hits home, because many of us know these young kids personally,” Gem County Commissioner Michele Sherrer said. “The community’s prayers are with the family. It’s a very difficult loss for our community, and especially for the family.”

Tom Carlsen with the Emmett School District said that the deaths are hitting the small school district hard, and grief counselors will be on hand at the schools Wednesday. Administrators will meet after school at 4 p.m. to formulate a plan.

Carlsen said principals at both schools informed students.

Stay with KTVB.COM for updates as they happen.