Manitoba

Truck breaks through ice on Manitoba's Pelican Lake

Two fishermen are safe, but their truck is soaking wet following a drive over thin ice on Pelican Lake on Thursday morning.

Last week, community members put up two hundred flashing signs around Pelican Lake to warn of thin ice

The back of a truck that broke through the ice on Pelican Lake can be seen in the distance, behind a sign warning of thin ice.

Two fishermen are safe, but their truck is soaking wet following a drive over thin ice on Pelican Lake on Thursday morning.

"Got a phone call from one of our committee members that a truck had gone through the ice," said Trevor Maguire, who oversees an aeration project on the lake.

"Some poor unfortunate soul had the front of his truck through the ice and the tail lights sticking out."

The driver and passenger were the only people in the vehicle and both got out safely before the front submerged beneath the lake's surface. A tow truck later pulled the half-ton truck from Pelican Lake's waters.

Last week, Maguire and a group of helpers put up two hundred flashing signs around Pelican Lake to warn of thin ice. The recent mild weather has prevented the ice from freezing, he said, and in some places, it's only two inches thick.

"The danger is people get out there assuming it's normal ice for December, and it's not," Maguire said.

"Instead of having a foot, 18 inches of ice out there, in some places we have less than a couple inches. "