Rescue under way for scores stuck on ice floe

The ice floe, 8 miles long, was created when a large piece of ice broke off from land near Locust Point, Ohio, east of Toledo, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Robert Lanier.

At least 100 and as many as 500 people were stranded, authorities said.

About 175 people trapped on a mile-long stretch of ice on Lake Erie that broke free and floated about a mile out on the lake were rescued today by helicopters and boats, officials said.

About 175 people trapped on a mile-long stretch of ice on Lake Erie that broke free and floated about a mile out on the lake were rescued today by helicopters and boats, officials said.

Coast Guard helicopters lowered large baskets to rescue some of the stranded. Two civilian boats and Coast Guard boats also aided in the rescue, which took three hours. No one was injured.

The ice floe ''took off pretty fast,'' said Dave Matta, an ice fishing guide from nearby Port Clinton, who said he jumped over a 6-inch gap to a secure piece of ice when he noticed the slab cracking away from the shore.

 

A miles-wide ice floe broke away Saturday from Lake Erie's shoreline, trapping more than 130 fishermen offshore, some for as long as four hours. One man fell into the water and later died of an apparent heart attack.

A Coast Guard spokesman, Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier, said 134 people had been plucked from the ice by late afternoon. Rescuers in helicopters lowered baskets onto the ice, and people climbed in and were lifted to safety. Others boarded air boats that glided across the ice.