A man and his dog had to be rescued after going through the ice on a snowmobile near The Pas.
RCMP said they got a report Sunday at around 1 p.m. of a person in urgent need of a rescue. A snowmobiler travelling on a tributary near Landry Lake broke through the ice, leaving the 40-year-old man and his dog stranded several miles from the shore. The ice was unstable, police said, making it impossible for him to walk to safety.
Officers from The Pas and Moose Lake RCMP, along with conservation officers and members of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation Fire Department and Opaskwayak Cree Nation Council set out on a rescue mission. They followed snowmobile tracks to find where the man was stranded, and were able to get him and his dog off unstable ice using amphibious vehicles.
“We felt a surge of relief when we were able to put eyes on the two of them and saw that they were okay,” said The Pas RCMP Corporal Colin Stark, who led the rescue team. “Thankfully, we were able to coordinate a complex rescue in a short time because everyone pitched in. Working together equipped with the proper resources, we were able to have a successful outcome, and everyone made it home safely.”
The man and the dog were transported to an RCMP off-road vehicle transport pod attached to a snowmobile and taken back to shore.
Police remind the public to be careful around lakes, rivers and creeks due to unsafe ice conditions this time of year.
