The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office (MN) coordinated efforts to rescue an estimated 200 people after a large portion of ice broke free and floated into open water on Upper Red Lake. Initial callers, who were ice fishing, at first reported only about 100 people in need of rescue.
The call came in to 911 Monday just before noon and alerted authorities that ice had broken free from the main shoreline and stranded a large number of people. When the sheriff’s deputies and other first responders arrived, they found the ice had drifted and left a gap of open water estimated to be 30 yards across at points.