Snowmobiler saved from Winnipeg River

A snowmobiler was rescued by the Lac du Bonnet fire department after driving into the Winnipeg River on New Year’s Eve.

A 32-year-old man who lives along the river, just south of Lac du Bonnet, was clinging to a piece of ice and yelling for help when the fire department responded at 8:30 p.m., a Thursday news release said.

The department was able to pull the man off the ice to safety using dry suits and rescue rope. He had hypothermia and was taken to a nearby medical centre.

“The fire department would like to remind the public to stay off unknown water bodies, especially rivers that often have dangerous currents that do not allow for any ice or thick ice to form,” Lac du Bonnet Fire Department Chief Earl Simmons said in the release.