Over 100 Minnesota Ice Fishers Rescued in Mass Evacuation from Breakaway Floe

A group of ice fishers were rescued Friday evening after the ice floe they were on detached from the shoreline on Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota, stranding them about 30 feet from land, authorities said.

The Beltrami County Sheriff's Office coordinated the evacuations of 122 people throughout two and a half hours, with no injuries reported.

The incident highlights the hazards of ice fishing this season amid warmer-than-usual winter weather. State officials have warned that ice on lakes may be dangerously thin in some areas.

The rescue also comes a day after one person died when a commercial vehicle carrying passengers to an ice fishing spot broke through thin ice on another Minnesota lake.

The stranding occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Friday on Upper Red Lake, located about 200 miles northwest of Minneapolis in Beltrami County.