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By Noah Hurowitz
Brooklyn Daily
A family picnic in Prospect Park turned tragic on Saturday when a toddler was found dead in the lake after disappearing with a cousin.
Police scuba divers found the body of Ruhshona Kurbonova, 2, in a wooded area of Prospect Park Lake on Saturday evening, ending a five-hour search, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.
The two children apparently strayed from the gathering and headed toward the water, where a family strolling in the park found Kurbonova’s three-year-old cousin, cops stated. The child was wet and covered in the green algae found on the edge of the lake near the boathouse, police said.
A 911 caller reported the other child missing around 1:10 pm, shortly after the three-year-old cousin was found, police said. Officers fanned out across the greensward on foot and bicycle, and a police scuba-diving team began searching the lake. Divers found the toddler’s body at about 6:05 pm, police said.
Kurbonova’s inconsolable mother, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, according to news reports, had to be carried off on a stretcher following the discovery. Kurbonova was the youngest of four, and the family’s only girl, a relative told reporters.