“One of them ended up going to the ice,” MacDonald said. “A passerby saw it, ran down the dock, and pulled him out. He pretty much saved the boy.”

The boy, whose name police did not release, was one of several children playing on tall snowbanks behind the InterContinental Hotel on Atlantic Avenue, said Steve MacDonald, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

A 9-year-old boy was rescued from the icy waters of Fort Point Channel Tuesday afternoon by a young man who responded to cries of help from children playing on snowbanks, authorities said.

The passerby, Victor Moisescu, 20, of Canton said he noticed children playing in the snow as he was crossing a bridge over Fort Point Channel on the way to his car.


Then, he said, he heard the children shouting, “where are you,” and Moisescu realized one of them had fallen in.

“I saw the situation and just reacted,” Moisescu said. “I’m just happy everyone was OK.”

Moisescu said he called 911, and then ran to a dock. The boy swam towards Moisescu, who pulled him to safety.

“He was pretty cold, but reacting pretty well,” Moisescu said. “He wasn’t terrified or anything.”

Firefighters then arrived, and helped carry the boy to the ambulance, MacDonald said.

Boston Emergency Medical Services took the boy to Tufts Medical Center, said McKenzie Ridings, spokeswoman for the Boston Public Health Commission.

The incident occurred as Boston works to remove huge snowbanks that have piled up on city streets from the series of storms over the past two weeks.

Officer Neva Coakley, a Boston police spokeswoman, said the boy is expected to “be OK.”

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKMcCabe. M.G. Lee can be reached at matt.lee@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @m_g_lee.