Despite attempts to save rider, man presumed drowned after ATV breaks through ice
RCMP, volunteer firefighter walked out on Winnipeg River ice in effort to save 42-year-old RM of Alexander man
A man from the rural municipality of Alexander is presumed to have drowned early Thursday morning, after his all-terrain vehicle broke through the ice of Winnipeg River and efforts to save him were unsuccessful, RCMP say.
Police in Powerview, Man. — about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg — received a report at 1 a.m. Thursday about an ATV attempting to cross the Winnipeg River, followed by calls for help.
The Mounties who responded could hear calls for help as they approached the river from Penelope Close, a street in the rural municipality of Alexander. They spotted a man clinging to the ice.
The officers and a volunteer firefighter who lived nearby grabbed a life-jacket and some rescue ropes. They walked onto the ice, trying to reach the man, but he started to struggle in the water, police say.
The man went under and did not resurface, and is presumed to have drowned, police say.
RCMP officers later learned that the 42-year-old from the RM of Alexander and another man were riding ATVs and tried crossing the river, when both vehicles broke through the thin ice.
The other man — a 37-year-old from Great Falls, Man. — was able to pull himself out of the water. He was later taken to a nearby home, where paramedics treated him for hypothermia, police say.
Mounties and the RCMP underwater recovery team continue to investigate.
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