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125 Anglers Saved, 1 Dead on Ice Floe

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 7, 2009 2:36 PM CST

(Newser) – Rescue teams saved about 125 fishermen stuck on an ice floe in Lake Erie today, but one died after falling in the water, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Authorities had warned northern Ohio fishermen that high winds with unseasonably warm air could melt ice and send it adrift. Fishermen reached the ice by setting up a makeshift wooden bridge that collapsed as the floe broke away.

"I have no problem with people ice fishing but these idiots should realize that when you see open water, you should not build a bridge and cross it," said Ottawa County Sheriff Robert Bratton. "It's a shame you can't arrest people for stupidity."

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

Map locates approximate area where hundreds of people were stranded on a breakaway ice flow in Lake Erie. (Associated Press)

Rescue workers walk across frozen Lake Erie after rescuing a number of fishermen stranded on a slab of ice about 1,000 yards off shore, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Madalyn Ruggiero)

Ice fishermen Gary Vaughn, left, of Pennsylvania, and David Hudzinski, from Wisconsin, after being rescued from the ice at Crane Creek Park in Oak Harbor, Saturday Feb. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Madalyn Ruggiero)

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One fisherman died in Lake Erie today as the US Coast Guard scrambled to rescue anglers adrift on an ice floe. (msnbc)

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