122 fishermen rescued from broken ice sheet on Minnesota lake

More than 100 fishermen were rescued from a broken ice sheet in a frozen lake in northern Minnesota on Friday after being stranded for nearly three hours, according to local law enforcement officials.

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office said an ice floe on the Upper Red Lake had separated from the mainland by approximately 30 feet, which was too far to bridge. However, the county’s emergency responders got all 122 fishermen safely back to the mainland. No injuries were reported, but four people ended up in the water after falling from a canoe before help had arrived.

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“Before emergency responders arrived on scene, bystander attempts via a canoe to evacuate were attempted. Four individuals fell into the open water during this attempt,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Friday evening. “They were brought back to the ice floe to warm in a fishing shelter. Emergency responders were able to evacuate the first four fishermen from the ice floe at 6:40 p.m. At 7:37 p.m. it was determined that all stranded fishermen needing to be evacuated had been brought to the main shoreline.”

The sheriff’s office said some of the fishermen were unaware that they were on an ice floe at the time of the incident, so the Beltrami County Emergency Management service sent out a warning with instructions on how and where to evacuate.

Two anglers had also fallen through the ice at the same lake on Thursday, law enforcement officials said. Both men were able to get out of the water but became stranded. However, they were eventually able to get back to their resort without any injuries.

Before Friday’s events, Beltrami and state officials had warned that ice conditions across the state were changing frequently and unevenly. The state was also experiencing an unusually warm December, which ran 10-15 degrees above normal for the season, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported, which made activities like fishing unsafe.

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“While the forecast looks good for making ice, ice conditions will remain poor until there’s a string of cold days to form new, clear ice. Please stay on shore until there’s at least 4 inches of new, clear ice. If you do head out, make sure to have all the proper safety equipment and check the ice thickness frequently,” state officials warned Thursday.

The same lake is a frequent site for ice rescues. Earlier this month, 50 people were stranded on the lake, and a small plane broke through the ice on Dec. 19.