One man is still missing after he and two others fell through the ice near Alaska’s Lockhart Point.
Around 11:20 a.m. on Nov. 1, the Alaska State Troopers dispatched rescue teams following a report that three men — all from Kotzebue — had fallen through the ice while riding two snowmachines and a 4-wheeler, according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
Authorities confirmed that one of the men reached the shore safely, while another managed to self-rescue and was later taken to a nearby health clinic. The third man has not yet been located.
Emergency medical personnel and local community members were already on site providing aid and conducting a search before the State Troopers arrived, the release stated. The Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue and the Kotzebue Fire Department continue to assist in the operation.
Following the accident, the Northwest Arctic Borough advised residents to avoid going out on the ice unless directly involved with rescue efforts, warning that conditions remain dangerous.
“KOTZEBUE: PLEASE DO NOT GO OUT TO THE ICE UNLESS YOU ARE COORDINATING WITH SEARCH AND RESCUE – THE ICE IS NOT SAFE,” the organization posted on Facebook. “PLEASE KEEP OUR SEARCHERS SAFE BY COORDINATING THROUGH SEARCH AND RESCUE.”
In a similar case earlier this year, authorities recovered the body of 32-year-old Skye Rench from Alaska’s Susitna River in May, two months after he disappeared. Rench had been traveling with four others in a side-by-side ATV when it broke through the river ice. Three people escaped and survived, while another passenger, Sean Kendall, was never found and is presumed dead.
