20 people rescued from ice floe in Lake Erie, Coast Guard says

PORT CLINTON, Ohio (AP) — Twenty people were rescued from an ice floe in Lake Erie, the Coast Guard said Monday.

The Coast Guard’s Ninth District Great Lakes station said it received a report about 10:20 a.m. that the people were stuck on a mile-long floe about a half-mile off Catawba Island State Park near Port Clinton in Ohio.

A Coast Guard helicopter was sent from Air Station Detroit and two airboats headed to the scene from nearby Station Marblehead, said Petty Officer Jessica Fontenette. Rescuers from the Put-In-Bay fire department on South Bass Island and the Ottawa County sheriff’s office also assisted.

The Coast Guard was able to rescue nine people; four others were rescued by the other agencies; and seven were able to get to shore themselves on an airboat, she said. No injuries were reported.