CLEVELAND – The U.S. Coast Guard, and multiple state and local agencies are attempting to rescue several hundred people stranded on an ice floe in western Lake Erie near Oak Harbor, Ohio.
Approximately 300-500 people are reported to be on the ice flow. The call for help came into the Coast Guard at approximately 10:45 a.m.
Responding agencies include: U.S. Coast Guard Air Stations Detroit, Traverse City, Mich., and Elizabeth City, N.C.; U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, U.S. Coast Guard Stations Toledo, Ohio, Belle Isle, Mich., St. Clair Shores, Mich., and Marblehead, Ohio; Canadian Coast Guard; Ohio State Patrol, Monroe County Sheriff; Jervis, Carol and Washington Townships; Toledo Lifeflight.
Rescuers are staging out of Crane Creek State Park in Oak Harbor, Ohio.
“We don’t know why the people were on the ice,” said Lt. David French, Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Officer. “Right now our primary goal is to safely remove all the people from the ice floe.”
As of 1:25 p.m., 35 people have been safely removed from the ice floe.
