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Dramatic rescue unfolds as ice shelf breaks away
Ontario Provincial Police airlifted 23 people from a drifting ice floe on Lake Huron Sunday after high winds and currents severed their shelf from shore, officials confirmed.
How the incident unfolded
The group had been ice fishing approximately 2 km (1.2 miles) offshore near Owen Sound when the shelf detached around noon (16:00 GMT). Witnesses reported the ice fracturing into smaller pieces as it drifted farther from land.
Fisherman Kevin Fox described the moment he realized the ice was moving. "I looked at my GPS-we were drifting," he wrote on Facebook. "I turned and saw waves forming behind us."
Harrowing moments before rescue
Fox recounted how the group sprinted toward what they believed was a still-connected section of ice, only to find it had already broken free. "We turned and ran the other way, but that ice was crumbling too," he said.
Another fisherman, Alfie How, told The Owen Sound Sun Times the group eventually "sat down and said this could be the end." Some called loved ones to say goodbye as the ice shrank beneath them.
Rescue operation amid worsening conditions
Two helicopters conducted multiple sorties to pluck individuals from the disintegrating floe. Fox noted the high winds initially raised doubts about whether the aircraft could operate safely.
Police praised the "great teamwork and quick response" that ensured all 23 were airlifted to shore. Several suffered hypothermia but are expected to recover fully.
Broader concerns over ice safety
Officials warned that ice conditions can deteriorate rapidly during warmer daylight hours, citing a similar incident last month in Vermont where kayaks and ferries rescued stranded skaters from Lake Champlain.
"It kept getting smaller and smaller,"
Kevin Fox, rescued fisherman
