Two fishermen had a brush with danger Thursday morning after their ATV plunged through the thin ice of Upper Red Lake, Minnesota. The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the men were rescued after becoming stranded about 1.5 miles from the southern shore near Otto Lane NE. In a chilling narrative, deputies detailed how the pair managed to escape the frigid waters but couldn’t make it back to safety on their own, FOX 9 reported.
The call for help came in at 7:29 a.m., setting off a swift response from local rescue teams and nearby resort staff. Despite the setback, by 8:05 a.m., the shaken but unscathed fishermen were back at base, having suffered no injuries from their perilous ordeal. Emergency crews are arranging to retrieve the sunken ATV, assessing that the retrieval can only take place as soon as the ice strengthens.
This is not the first incident to rattle the popular ice-fishing destination this season. Earlier this month on December 17, a group of 35 anglers found themselves adrift on a rogue ice floe, prompting a large-scale rescue. Then just days ago on December 21, three more men were similarly rescued after their ice encounter went south, the Bemidji Pioneer added.
Numerous ice houses have succumbed to the weak ice — and unfortunately, are yet to be recovered. The Sheriff’s Office strongly advises against taking to the ice without first consulting with local resorts and continually gauging the thickness of the ice during excursions.
