Rescue Saves Two NY Boys Buried In Snow Mound

Two boys are recovering Friday morning after they were buried for hours in a snow bank in the Hudson Valley. A desperate rescue effort saved them after a plow operator accidentally pushed snow on top of them, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.

The two cousins, nine and 11 years old, went out to build a snow fort Thursday, but when they didn't come back hours later, their family became worried. That's when residents pulled together and went on a frantic search to find them.

Dramatic video showed police officers and neighbors digging to save the young boys who had been trapped under a seven-foot mound of snow.

"All I seen was the feet when I got over there, the little boys' feet hanging out of the thing, and he was shaking and his mother was like, 'It's alright, he's there, he's there,' and he was like, 'Mommy, mommy,'" witness Takiaya Stevens said.

The cousins had been playing in the snow in a parking lot opposite the apartment complex where they were staying Wednesday night.

Their parents searched the area and called police to report them missing just before midnight.

"A dog was barking and took the attention to where these children were at and somebody heard the muffled sound of the kids under the snow and they were digging them out and people were screaming for shovels," another witness Robert Nicosia said.

The boys were dug out by 17 rescue workers and relatives who used shovels and their bare hands to free them.

Police say the boys may have been covered with snow and trapped after a snowplow came through to clear the parking lot.

"When I left at 5:30 the snow plow was out there was plowing already so he probably didn't see them," Stevens said.

One of the boys was released from the hospital with no major injuries. His cousin still remains under observation, but his mother posted on Facebook that he is doing well.

Watch The Video On CBSNews.com.