3 tourists on snowmobiles plunge through ice by Prosperous Lake

Three tourists on their snowmobilesplunged through thinice by Prosperous Lake near Yellowknife Saturday.

The incident involved a tour operator and three of his clients. As the operator was preparing the snowmobiles for a tour, three tourists allegedly "jumped on their sleds and took off ahead," according to Jeremy MacDonald, a well-known Yellowknife diver who helped rescue the three sunken machines.

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"They were all ripping up the lake at the same pace and speeds so language [could have] been an issue But I think really it was [that the tourists] got over excited about what they were doing," said MacDonald,who said the tour operator contacted him for help.

MacDonalddeclined to name the local tour operator.

This isn't the first reportof people going through the ice recently.

On Friday, CBC reported at least four peopleand one snowmobile have broken through thin lake ice in and around Yellowknife in the past two weeks.

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The Saturday incident occurredin the same place a minivan and another snowmobile went through just two weekends ago, according to MacDonald.

"It was really remarkable too, one of the sleds was approximately two and a half feet from the bumper of the minivan underwater," said MacDonald, who took a photo standing on top of the minivan Saturday.

The minivan still remains underwater at the channel that connects Prosperous Lake to McMeekan Bay.

Rescue takes 4 hours

MacDonald said it took a total of four hours to get all the snowmobiles out.

He said he was able to dive and bring out one machine, but had to call in a helicopter to help with the other two.

MacDonald said ice conditions aren't good right now, and is callingfor people to be careful around the lakes.

"We were walking on it and we broke through in a number of places. So while everybody thinks the lakes are frozen that place was less than an inch thick," he said.

CBC contacted the City of Yellowknife's Public Safety department, but has not yet received comment.

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